WEST JORDAN, Utah — Raylynn Atkinson’s current predicament can be described as playing on a loop; a search to find a solution and getting the runaround.
A dental assistant for 13 years, the mom of eight lost her job in January. Atkinson’s first line of action: re-work her resume, file for unemployment and file her taxes.
“Taxes are a must around this time with that many people in our family. We look forward to tax time to get over the burden of Christmas,” she said.
But when Atkinson tried to apply for unemployment, and then attempted to get a hold of her W-2, she found something unexpected.
“The third page in tells me that I am going to get in trouble if I misrepresent my employers. And I look at the list, there are my two employers that are actually the same place and then there are three extra ones that I’ve never heard of, nor are they where I live,” Atkinson explained. “I took it upon myself to call the top one. The lady on the phone did verify that they are paying somebody under my social security number. The place is located in Bountiful and says she is not responsible for looking at the taxpayer documents that she does payroll for.”
Atkinson went to an IRS office to see if she’d find more of the same. She was told there were pages of tax documents with her social security number all from different employers dating back to 2022.
During a following trip to the unemployment office in Taylorsville, Atkinson was told to call the Federal Trade Commission to get an identity theft pin, which she promptly did, but couldn’t get a clear answer on how to use it before adding insult to injury.
“I went to go log into Experian because that was another place that I have to look is at my credit file and my phone number that I’ve had for 10 years all of a sudden is no longer the phone number they have on file for my Experian account, so I can’t even log into it,” Atkinson said.
Atkinson contacted police in West Jordan, where she lives, who told her she’d have to file separate police reports in each city where her social security number was being used.
Left with more questions than answers, that’s when Atkinson reached out to FOX 13 News.
A investigation started with a trip to that first mysterious employer listed on Raylynn’s unemployment profile. It’s a human resources company hired by businesses to do their payroll. Because the company was also an unknowing victim of the crime, FOX 13 News has made the decision to not give its name.
That company's attorneys have yet to respond to inquiries from FOX 13 News.
The next step was filing police reports in each city where Atkinson's social security number is being used.
First up was Kaysville police where, because there is an active investigation, the name of the business Atkinson reported can't be revealed, but her identity fraud case was not the first that department had seen.
“There’s definitely a rise, especially over the past few months. I’ve taken probably six of these types of cases,” said Public Information Officer Lexi Benson.
What happens to the perpetrator?
“Depending on where they are, if we can locate them, we can arrest them on site,” said Benson. “We can send it up to be reviewed for charges and get a warrant for their arrest. I’m not sure what exactly what those charges are, we’d have to look into it and see.”
Eva Velasquez with the Identity Theft Resource Center says they too have seen an increase in consumers' social security numbers being misused. She says it’s not easy to tell at an initial glance, since Atkinson first discovered employers unknown to her on her unemployment profile, but one of two things could be happening.
“There is a difference between your social security number being misused to actually gain employment meaning that somebody fills out that paperwork, and then they go to the job,” said Velasquez. “We saw during the pandemic, the huge numbers of thieves, using our data to apply for fraudulent unemployment benefits. They didn’t actually do the work, they never had those jobs. They just use the data to apply for those benefits.”
Then there’s Atkinson’s taxes. Because she’s a victim of identity fraud, for the time being, she won’t be able to file her taxes electronically and must deliver them to the tax office by hand. But could one of the fraudsters receive her return?
Jason Gardner with the Utah State Tax Commission says as far as her state return, not necessarily. If a return is sent to the wrong person, that return would be reversed and the rightful taxpayer can still claim their refund as normal.
Once potential fraud is reported, an “indicator” is put on the account.
“If anything changes from year to year that seems suspicious, like for example, their bank account that it’s being deposited into changes from the previous year to this year, that’s usually an indicator that the money is trying to go a different way,” explained Gardner. “Or if the address changes and they want a paper check, that’s another indicator.”
That loop Atkinson seemed to be stuck in may not ever come to a complete close. A realization that this is not something people can just leave behind, but only keep an eye on.
“Mine will never be my identity again. It will never be just my identity again because I’ll probably always have something weird pop up,” said Atkinson.
The Identity Theft Resource Center was able to help her immensely.
Here’s some things people can do if they find themselves in a similar situation:
- Contact all three credit bureaus and obtain credit reports from all of them, and freeze your credit.
- File a report with local law enforcement stating you are a victim of identity theft.
- Contact the IRS – you’ll fill out form 14039 – then ask for documentation that fraudulent activity has been cleared.
- Contact the Social Security Administration - create a “My SSA” account online and review the earnings record – compare it to wages reported on your W-2.
If you see fraudulent activity, you can report it to them there.
A preventative tip from the Resource Center: have unique passwords across all your accounts. It may be difficult to remember them all, but it helps to secure your information.
Below are ways you can contact each of these entities:
CONTACT EQUIFAX
- Obtain a credit report and review for suspicious activity
- Place a fraud alert and a credit freeze
- Dispute fraudulent information on the credit report
CONTACT EXPERIAN
- Obtain a credit report and review for suspicious activity
- Place a fraud alert and a credit freeze
- Dispute fraudulent information on the credit report
CONTACT TRANSUNION
- Obtain a credit report and review for suspicious activity
- Place a fraud alert and a credit freeze
- Dispute fraudulent information on the credit report
CONTACT LAW ENFORCEMENT
- File a local law enforcement report stating you are a victim of identity theft
- File an FTC Identity Theft Report at identitytheft.gov.
CONTACT I.D./LICENSE ISSUER
- Place a flag/alert on your record
VISIT AnnualCreditReport.com
- Obtain a copy of your report from each CRA and review for fraudulent activity.
VISIT Frozenpii.com
- Follow steps for reviewing and freezing credit report
CONTACT THE IRS
- Fill out form 14039 and submit it to the IRS
- Ask for documentation that fraudulent activity has been cleared
- Obtain an IP PIN
CONTACT THE SOCIAL SECURITY ADMINISTRATION
- Create a “my SSA” account online
- Review Earnings Record, comparing to wages reported on W2.
- Report fraudulent earnings/wages
You will also want to contact the following agencies to further assist you:
- Referral Organization Name - Equifax
- Phone - 800-525-6285
- Website - Equifax.com
Referral Organization Name - Federal Trade Commission (FTC)-Identity Theft
- Phone - 877-438-4338
- Website - identitytheft.com
Referral Organization Name - Chex Systems
- Phone - 800.428.9623
- Website - Chex Systems
Referral Organization Name - Transunion
- Phone - 800-680-7289
- Website - Transunion.com
Referral Organization Name - Social Security Administration (SSA)
- Phone - 1-800-772-1213
- Website - ssa.gov
Referral Organization Name - Experian
- Phone - 888-397-3742
- Website - Experian.com
Referral Organization Name - Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
- Phone - 800-829-1040
- Website - irs.gov