A Fort Worth woman was shocked to receive a W-2 reporting nearly $30,000 in income from a job she never held. NBC 5 Responds’ Diana Zoga explains how the error may be linked to identity theft—and what steps you can take to protect yourself if it happens to you.
NBC 5 Responds to a North Texan with a tax form that didn’t add up. Read on for steps to take if this happens to you.
"I WAS IN SHOCK"
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WATCH HEREThis tax season, a W-2 arrived in the mail. It had Ileana Zuniga’s information, but reported nearly $30,000 in income from a job she said she didn’t have.
“It was from a construction company,” said Zuniga. “I have never worked in a construction company. I've never been to that state. I was in shock.”
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SIGN UP Zuniga filed police reports in Fort Worth, where she lives, and in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, where the employer is headquartered. Then, she did some digging.
Zuniga said she contacted the company listed on the W-2. It told her it wasn’t in contact with the worker because she stopped coming to work.
Zuniga said the company provided an application for employment, copies of a Social Security card, and a Texas driver's license issued in 2020. Zuniga said the driver's license number and date of birth match her actual license. The address listed is Zuniga’s old address, but Zuniga said she doesn’t recognize the woman in the license photo, and the signature on the license doesn’t match hers.
We shared a photo of the license, which had a color photo of a woman, with the Texas DPS. It told us it believes this is a fraudulent driver's license. A Texas driver's license issued in 2020 would have a black and white photo, like the examples on the DPS website.
We don’t know much about the woman in the license photo that the employer provided to Zuniga. We also don’t know if the person pictured is the person using Zuniga’s information.
There’s a phone number listed on the job application. NBC 5 left voicemails and sent text messages in English and Spanish. We didn’t receive a response. We tried a second phone number listed as an emergency contact. The person who answered told NBC 5 we had the wrong number.
NBC 5 Responds contacted the company listed on the W-2, MMR Constructors Inc. We didn’t receive a response.
Information on the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services website says employers must determine if identification and employment authorization documents reasonably appear to be genuine.
“We don't charge every employer in the United States with being an absolute expert on fake documents,” said Jennifer Trulock, a labor and employment attorney at Bradley.
Trulock is not involved in Zuniga’s case. Generally, Trulock said employers must have employees fill out an I-9 form, and the employer has to look at the documentation employees provide.
“There's just a requirement that they have to look at the documents with an eye toward, does this reasonably appear to be the person that it says it is?” said Trulock.
Zuniga is now working to reclaim her identity. “The first two days, I couldn't sleep at night. I was just thinking about it. That is very, very stressful.”
STEPS TO TAKE
Generally, victims of employment ID theft can face a list of potential problems, including stolen tax refunds, questions about a legitimate tax return, and changes to their benefits because of falsely attributed income.
FTC Senior Investigator Kelle Slaughter said if you receive an unexpected or incorrect tax form, contact the employer.
“It could be a mistake. It can also be an indication of identity theft,” said Slaughter.
Report ID theft to identitytheft.gov. It walks you through an identity theft affidavit for the IRS and how to report a stolen Social Security number.
You can also create a Social Security Administration online account to review your work history.
“The Social Security Administration has a program set up where you can actually lock your Social Security number so that people can't use it in order to look for jobs,” said Slaughter.
There’s an option to place a lock in the E-Verify system, too. That’s a federal database employers can use to check employment eligibility.
For taxpayers, the IRS recommends requesting an identity protection PIN, a six-digit number meant to help the IRS verify your identity when you file a return. You can find a link to the IRS’s ID theft victim assistance here.
Zuniga said she learned no one filed a return with her information, which was welcome news.
According to the National Taxpayer Advocate’s most recent report to Congress, victims of identity theft waited an average of 22 months, nearly two years, for the IRS to process returns and refunds.
“I do not have any idea where they actually got my whole information. That person has everything, everything. She just took my life away,” said Zuniga.
When we spoke to Zuniga, she recalled receiving a past letter from Texas DPS, saying someone tried to order a replacement driver's license in her name.
Texas DPS tells NBC 5 Responds, “In 2023, the Texas Department of Public Safety (DPS) identified Ms. Ileana Zuniga as one of 5,000 customers affected by a security incident and sent a letter to notify her of potential fraudulent activity associated with her driver's license.”
It’s not clear if that would have factored into the unexpected W2 Zuniga received this year, putting her on alert for any sign a stranger is using her identity.
HOW TO CHECK YOUR CREDIT REPORTS
Zuniga said she followed the steps to report ID theft and is monitoring her credit reports.
The FTC said it’s critical to contact the credit reporting bureaus to place a fraud alert or credit freeze. Check your credit reports, too.
The reports show bank, credit, and loan accounts in your name, along with payment history. All three major credit reporting bureaus now offer online reports free to consumers once a week. Start at www.annualcreditreport.com.
