All about employment identity theft and how to prevent it
- One of the significant areas identity theft is becoming common is the employment sector, when some imposter hacks your social security number and applies for work.
- It has come into notice that the masterminds of the underground world do employment identity theft after hacking the number and selling them in premium to the illegal migrants and refugees.
- If your tax return doesn’t match your earnings and you get a notice from the IRS about the mismatch, you are probably a victim of employment identity theft.
- Again, suppose you suddenly receive Wage and tax settlement form W-2s from an unknown employer for whom you have never worked. In that case, chances are more than your employment identity has been stolen and misused by some imposter.
- However, to prevent fraud, it is best to regularly visit the MyE-Verify tool at the Department of Homeland Security portal and check if an employer has access to your government records to verify your social security number. It will give you an idea if anyone had misused your SSN and applied for a job that you never applied for.
- As soon as you notice the misuse of your SSN, it is best to inform the IRS or the Social Security Administration to do the needful.
- Record all the activities that seem suspicious and take the help of the IC3 or the Internet Crime Complaint Center to avoid legal troubles.
- Monitor all the accounts using your SSN and even freeze some of them if required to prevent further stealing.
- Opt for the free one-year alerts on frauds extended by the credit report agencies of the country and look at your credit ratings.
- Equifax: 800-525-6285
- Experian: 888-397-3742
- Trans Union: 800-680-7289
- Register at the Social Security portal with your SSN and get notices and emails of all your SSN activities.
If you cannot fix your Identity theft issue, it is advisable to use a legal service that can provide you round the year protection from identity theft at a low cost. You can check the IDShield plan benefits here.
For Canadian identity services, please visit Canada identity theft services.
