IRS and Identity Theft

Tax refund ID Theft is growing epidemic:

"More Americans' identities were stolen in tax refund crimes in the first six months of 2013 than in all of 2012, said an Internal Revenue Service watchdog on Thursday who described the problem as "a growing epidemic."Tax refund fraud has exploded in recent years. Scammers typically use stolen names and Social Security numbers to file phony electronic tax forms for IRS refunds."

http://www.nbcnews.com/business/tax-refund-id-theft-growing-epidemic-irs-watchdog-8C11557603

The IRS provides advice and resources including an affidavit on the following sites:
http://www.irs.gov/uac/Taxpayer-Guide-to-Identity-Theft
http://www.irs.gov/uac/Protect-Yourself-from-Identity-Theft-1

$3.6 Billion paid to Identity Theives via fraudulent refunds, down from $5.2 Billion
http://money.cnn.com/2013/11/07/pf/taxes/irs-fraud/

Obamacare and Identity Theft

My general thought on Obamacare is that illegal workers needed a job to get healthcare in your name before, now with your credentials they can just go online and get it without needing a job. If they work for cash... they can now just go online and get healthcare without having to bother to report to work somewhere or apply for a job.

Along that line, if someone qualifies for a subsidy and gets healthcare using your identity, whom do you think the IRS will ask to pay that back when it turns out you don't qualify for the subsidy when you file your own, accurate tax return?

A few links from around the web with some relevant excerpts:
How Obamacare Makes Theft Of Your Identity More Likely
"Stealing a medical identity is more lucrative than other kinds of identity theft."
http://www.forbes.com/sites/realspin/2013/08/25/how-obamacare-makes-theft-of-your-identity-more-likely/

St. Louis woman has Identity Compromised at Healthcare.gov including her Account, Address, Social Security Number
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmEddTNWc_8

This article relates most directly to what I've said and have been thinking

"The risks of potential identity theft are very real, and 13 attorneys general have expressed deep concerns about the security of the exchanges’ information."

http://www.nationalreview.com/article/361946/top-ten-obamacare-disasters-come-grace-marie-turner/page/0/1

The 5 types of Identity Theft

Here is an article on the 8 Types of Identity Theft which Jake enumerates as

1. Financial
2. Insurance
3. Medical
4. Criminal
5. Driver's License
6. Social Security
7. Synthetic
8. Child

His article on About.com is here
http://idtheft.about.com/od/Basics/a/The-8-Types-Of-Identity-Theft.htm

I will write more on this later and maybe just update this post. There are really 5 Basic Types that lead to 10 or 11 common manifestations.

The 5 Basic Types of Identity Theft are:

1. Driver's License
2. Character/Criminal
3. Medical
4. Social Security
5. Financial

This article from SHRM regarding employer liabilities in 2008 highlights these 5 types of ID Theft (Michael Hall is no relation that I'm aware of):
http://www.shrm.org/LegalIssues/FederalResources/Pages/EmployersFaceLiabilityforFiveKindsofIdentityTheft.aspx

The 10 or 11 Common Types of Identity Theft therefore and what the Basic Type they are based on are:

1. Financial (Financial)
2. Insurance (Financial/Medical)
3. Medical (Medical)
4. Criminal (Character/Criminal)
5. Driver's License (Driver's License)
6. Social Security (Social Security)
7. Synthetic (Combination from the 5)
8. Child (Any of the Basic 5 from a Minor)
9. Business (Usually Financial but based on a Federal Tax ID, not an SSN)
10. Deceased (Any of the Basic 5 from a Deceased person)
11. Cloning (Combination of Character/Criminal and another type thus impersonating the victim)

Now that I have fleshed out this outline, I probably need to do a basic post on what Identity Theft is, but this is a good definition for starters and I got it from the FTC years ago:

“Identity Theft occurs when someone uses your personally identifying information, like your name, Social Security number, or credit card number, without your permission, to commit fraud or other crimes.”
I also read an article from Kroll that I can not share... that added "or to conceal the thief's true identity."

Perhaps more on this later.

College Students at High Risk for Identity Theft

A story from Austin, TX new station KXAN on the BBB, college students, and identity theft.

Some good tips but it mentions that you should look for "https://" for a secure website when shopping online but then also tells the story of someone who put in credit card info for a purchase on a completely fake website.

http://www.kxan.com/news/local/austin/college-students-most-prone-to-id-theft

You need a plan to mitigate damages when they happen. There is no way to avoid a determined ID thief particularly when your info is captured as collateral damage or incidentally.

Countrywide ID theft scam

Incredible. They caught 2 of the men responsible for the Countrywide data breach. I don't think the punishment fit the crime myself.

This is a good article for people who still ask me "how did someone get my Social Security Number/Bank Account number/Date of Birth/et al. Here are some highlights and the link back:

Rebollo was arrested in 2008 after FBI investigators found that he was using a flash drive to download data from about 20,000 customers a week for two years.

Rebollo then sold the information to Wahid Siddiqi, 28, formerly of Thousand Oaks, for $500 and earned a combined $50,000, federal investigators said. He later pleaded guilty to unlawfully disclosing Social Security numbers in at least 50,000 [INSTANCES].

Siddiqi is serving a 3-year prison sentence after pleading guilty to fraud and admitted to selling the information to third parties, including an undercover FBI agent.

Read more: http://moneywatch.bnet.com/economic-news/news/calif-man-sentenced-in-countrywide-id-theft-scam/6306326/#ixzz1ZY45ALbr

Legal Arizona Workers Act

This is an Identity Theft related issue as I have discussed, it relates directly to Social Security Identity Theft and the need for people to have a valid Social Security number:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/05/26/scotus.arizona.law/index.html?hpt=T1

Arizona passed the Legal Arizona Workers Act in 2007, allowing the state to suspend the licenses of businesses that "intentionally or knowingly" violate work-eligibility verification requirements. Companies would be required under that law to use E-Verify, a federal database to check the documentation of current and prospective employees

513 illegal immigrants in 2 tractor-trailers

I am posting this because I have not previously posted a story about this, but these people who paid $7000.00 each to travel to the US under these conditions would not hesitate to spend $50 for an "ID Kit" that includes a driver's license, social security card and a credit card, but this story focuses on what people will do just to get here:

"Mexican authorities said they found and detained more than 500 illegal immigrants from Central America and Asia who were crammed inside two tractor-trailers heading toward the United States on Tuesday."

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/americas/05/17/mexico.migrants/index.html?hpt=Sbin