Reasons I filed on Feb 2.

There was a good segment on 60 Minutes this past fall on exactly this problem. I think they have past episodes online. The IRS can and needs to do more to stop this problem. It happened to my mom 2 years ago and it was a nightmare to sort out.

They should require some id to submit.

^I mean the SSA issued it, not the IRS.

This happened to me years ago and the IRS issued me a letter certifying me as the sole legal "owner" of the SSN. Doesn't stop anyone from using it, but it does protect me from liability.

It just happened to a friend of mine this year, too. It's a total PITA. I'm sorry.

ALso, IRS is aware of this problem and taking it very seriously. They have increase resources to focus attention on this over the last two years so i hope that you get some good help in good time.

Yes, this happened to a friend of mine just last week. He filled out TurboTax a month ago, then left it to check for extra receipts, let his wife review the return, etc, etc. Last week, he went to submit and it came back with the message that he had already filed and did he want to amend the return. He answered no. He had to take the next day and a half off work and spend it on the line with the IRS Fraud department and some other agency (Justice?) where he had to file a ton of identity theft paperwork, print out his tax return and mail it, yada, yada. Plus he had to do a full credit check, call the credit bureaus, call all of his credit card companies, get a credit monitoring service set up, call banks, etc. Once they have enough information to file a fraudulent tax return, there's no telling how much more of your identity they have access to and you have to be thorough to protect yourself. I saw him the afternoon of the second day and he was not a happy camper.

You will get your taxes filed and ultimately get your return, but it will take a long time. Call immediately.

Anonymous wrote:Does anyone know how early the criminals are filing? I wonder if filing earlier may reduce the chances of becoming a victim.

I've heard that filing early is helpful.

Happened to me! Call the IRS fraud line. They have a special number for identity theft. You will still have to file (on paper) and ssend in and ID theft form. Eventually you Will get your refund. Also check out the ftc website for additkonal steps to take.

Does anyone know how early the criminals are filing? I wonder if filing earlier may reduce the chances of becoming a victim.

Unfortunately, this is becoming more frequent. It happened to 2 of my coworkers. This is the IRS info site:

http://www.irs.gov/uac/Taxpayer-Guide-to-Identity-Theft

My mom is a CPA and has seen a lot more of this this year. Call the IRS.

Anonymous wrote:I just received an IRS notice that I'm due a $2500 refund b/c of an error I made in my 2014 filing -- that I haven't sent yet. (And all the other $ amounts of the Notice were not similar to mine at all -- just my name and address and xxx-xx-1234 SSN were correct).

Uh, yeah. Call them stat. http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/2015/04/10/IRS-Struggles-Help-Victims-Identity-Fraud

I just received an IRS notice that I'm due a $2500 refund b/c of an error I made in my 2014 filing -- that I haven't sent yet. (And all the other $ amounts of the Notice were not similar to mine at all -- just my name and address and xxx-xx-1234 SSN were correct).