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James Ajami* knew his 2009 tax refund would take longer than
usual to process. The Illinois retiree and his wife had bought a
new home, making them eligible for a $6,500 federal tax credit
but requiring more paperwork.

They had no idea that identity theft would drag out the process
for a full year—a period marked with frustration.

They filed their tax return in March 2010. One month later, an
identity thief submitted a bogus 1040 form to the IRS. On the
form were James Ajami’s name and Social Security number, a fake
address and the crook’s bank account and routing numbers. The
couple’s $2,700 refund was issued electronically to that bank,
then the funds were withdrawn. It wasn’t until June that the
Ajamis discovered what had happened.

“The IRS considered the later return—with all the fake
information—the real return,” Ajami said.

Ajami helped himself by taking several steps. He filed a police
report, notified the three major credit bureaus and filed a
complaint with the Federal Trade Commission. He mailed
identifying documents to the IRS to prove that he was who he said
he was. In September, he made a battery of follow-up phone calls
to the IRS. The next month he visited a local IRS walk-in center,
and the agency referred his case to their in-house Identity
Protection Specialized Unit.

“He did everything right, from filing complaints and police
reports to setting up a fraud alert,” said Vicki Volkert, an
Identity Theft 911 fraud specialist who worked on his case.

Ajami realized he could receive Identity Theft 911’s services
through his auto insurance. That’s how Volkert became
involved:

She conducted a complete interview to establish his time line
and validate his paperwork.

She enrolled him in credit and fraud monitoring services for
one year to watch for additional fraud.

She also organized a joint call with Ajami to the IRS
identity theft unit to confirm that his claim was under
investigation.

Finally, Volkert assured Ajami that IRS identity theft
investigations normally take at least six months, and that,
despite the headache, most victims end up with their rightful
checks.

“That was a big help right there, because I figured the money was
lost for good,” Ajami said. “I wish I could have gotten a hold of
her earlier.”

Sure enough, Ajami got his check about six months after he made
his calls to the IRS.

After his vexing experience, Ajami has decided there’s only one
way to truly avoid tax-related identity theft: “Make sure you owe
money to the IRS.”