Legal Question in Social Security Law in Illinois

I received a notice from the IRS stating that I owed taxes for under-reporting my wages for the 2008 tax year. The notice shows the names of 3 employers who reported wages to the IRS under my social security number. I have never worked for any of these companies (they are all based in Illinois, thought 1 is incorporated in Florida). Someone is using my social security number illegally and is using it for work purposes. The IRS said they need a police report, my statement about the issue, and a copy of my driver's license or other ID. I filed the police report and am waiting for the copy. Once the IRS receives this information, I was told they would make any corrections that are needed to my tax account. Do I have any other legal rights in this situation? Can I contact these companies or somehow find the person that is using my SS# illegally? Can the police help in this situation? (other than taking my statement and typing up a report? -The police officer that took my statement frankly didn't seem too interested in helping.) Would taking further action require hiring a lawyer?


Asked on 4/05/10, 4:58 pm

1 Answer from Attorneys
Stephen Messutta

You are apparently a victim of identity theft. The IRS can fix your records. You should also contact the Social Security administration because they very possibly will have incorrect records as well. The policy will only be able to help directly with possibly finding the culprit(s), but may have an ombudsman's office or some other public relations area that can give you additional ideas. You could need the thieves' identifies to sue them for fraud. Hiring a lawyer may not be necessary if you can and actually do take care of these things, but writing a letter to the companies in question may be a good thing for a lawyer to do, to get an acknowledgment of some kind. Unfortunately employers are supposedly responsible for misreporting of tax/social security reporting even though they are ill-equipped to identify fraud if it is not obvious, so unless they were involved in the fraud letting them know of the problem could be a big help to them.

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Answered on 4/17/10, 11:00 am


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