Another Identity Theft Threat
Here’s a slightly different twist on the typical identity theft story… A guy by the name of Jason Smith who lives in Danielsville, GA recently contacted the IRS to find out why his $600 tax refund hadn’t arrived only to learn that they were waiting for him to pay $12k in back taxes.
When Smith requested a copy of his work history, he discovered that the government believed that he was working two jobs — his regular job plus another job at a nearby chicken plant. As it turns out, an illegal immigrant named Nohe Gomez Hernandez had used Smith’s social security number to get a job at the chicken plant, and this apparent second job forced Smith into a higher tax bracket, thereby generating the income tax shortfall.
As an interesting aside, Hernandez’s attorney is arguing that he shouldn’t be prosecuted under Georgia’s identity theft law since he didn’t use the information to pilfer Smith’s bank account or rack up credit cards charges. Rather, he used Smith’s social security numebr solely to secure a job. Not surprisingly, the prosecution disagrees.
[Source: Access North Georgia]
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Filed under: Identity Theft
About the author: Nickel is the founder and editor-in-chief of this site. He's a thirty-something family man who has been writing about personal finance since 2005, and guess what? He's on Twitter!
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October 3rd, 2006 at 4:35 pm
Interesting….my husband just started a new job and when they pulled his credit/criminal history it showed his ssn as being used by two different hispanic men. We have yet to experience any ramifications from this but I’ll now watch out for our taxes.
October 6th, 2006 at 2:41 pm
Five Cent Nickel,
My wife went for a job about 11 years ago, and there were TWO different people using her SSN. Interestingly, here maiden name is also “Smith”.
Keep Picking Up Those Nickels,
NCN
This comment is part of my 100 Comments Series over at No Credit Needed.
October 11th, 2006 at 2:08 pm
Is there an way to ask IRS if I have two jobs? Or how do I find out if somebody else is not using my ssn?