Fraud - can this go to court?

[blb1980]

Indiana


I wasn't sure what area to ask this question in but here goes....

Ok my employee was telling me that the IRS contacted her regarding taxes during a certain two year period from working at Target. She did not know what was going on because she said at the time she was locked up (in prison). She now thinks that someone had been employed under her name using her social security number at Target. Can she sue Target for hiring someone who isn't who they say they are? Target will not give her any info over the phone for security reasons. She was trying to find out what store this person was working at. They just told her to submit any requests in writing. I told her the IRS should know what Target store this is? she said they didn't "seem" to know.

 

[swalsh411]

All she needs to do it tell the IRS that those are not her earnings and couldn't possibly be because she was incarerated at the time. They may require some soft of affadavit or proof she was in prison. They will remove the earnings from her record after they investigate. She does not need to play detective. The wage reporting issue is between the IRS/SSA and the employer. Target is not required to provide her any information and there is no reason she needs to waste her time dealing with them.

She should immediately go to annualcreditreport.com and get a free copy of her credit report to see if any accounts have been opened in her name.

edit: Not that it matters one bit, but the IRS would not know what store this person was supposedly worked at. Work location is not reported on a W-2.

 

[Shadowbunny]

Indiana


I wasn't sure what area to ask this question in but here goes....

Ok my employee was telling me that the IRS contacted her regarding taxes during a certain two year period from working at Target. She did not know what was going on because she said at the time she was locked up (in prison). She now thinks that someone had been employed under her name using her social security number at Target. Can she sue Target for hiring someone who isn't who they say they are? Target will not give her any info over the phone for security reasons. She was trying to find out what store this person was working at. They just told her to submit any requests in writing. I told her the IRS should know what Target store this is? she said they didn't "seem" to know.

Why do you think Target is liable for someone committing identity fraud?

 

[commentator]

In my day, I have seen some very elaborate identity issues, and I will say this based on my personal experiences. I would bet a good sum that this woman, your employee is not quite the lilly white innocent victim in this one. I bet that while she was incarcerated, someone she knows, perhaps quite well, like a daughter or good friend worked using her social security number and identity because perhaps, they had some previous problems with the IRS or with child support, or some other claim on their earnings if they used their own identity.

Even if she was unaware of it, it very likely is someone in her immediate circle, a sister, a friend, someone who knew she wasn't going to be working using this number for a while and had access to her social security number. She'll have to take the actions that will cause a bad outcome for this person if they're caught.

And no, Target isn't to blame for hiring this person. What she will need to do is what someone suggested, inform the IRS at once that she was incarcerated, show them proof, and let them take care of this fraud issue. She also needs to check her credit, if she truly hasn't a clue who has done this to her, and take all the actions necessary to document and prosecute someone for identity theft if she can discover who it is.

I once had a baffled employer who had just been informed by one of his workers that he now wanted to start using a different name and social security number on the job. Why? Well, I was using my brother in law's because of child support, but he says he wants to use his again and go back to work, so I need to start using mine.

 

[TinkerBelleLuvr]

File a police report, then take the report to the Social Security office to deal with the fraudulent earnings. Answer all IRS correspondence with said affidavits and police report.

 

[Zigner]

From personal experience, this is one of the situations that allows for a new Social Security number to be issued to the victim.