Employment Identity Theft

Employment identity theft occurs when someone uses your personal data — typically your name, Social Security Number or National Insurance number, and date of birth — to work illegally, circumvent employment authorisation checks, or avoid their own tax and legal history. The fraudster earns wages, receives payslips, and builds an employment record under your identity while you are unaware.

The damage manifests in several ways. Because the fraudster's employer reports wages to the tax authority under your identifier, you receive a tax bill for income you never earned — or your refund is reduced because the system believes you had unreported income. Your Social Security earnings record accrues credits from jobs you never held, which can affect future benefit calculations. In serious cases, if the fraudster commits workplace offences or is investigated, those events may be associated with your identity.

Employment identity theft often persists for years because there is no immediate financial disruption to prompt a victim to investigate. Many people only discover it when they receive an IRS notice about unreported income, receive an unexpected tax bill, or review their Social Security earnings history.

Fraudsters seeking to work without authorisation — because they lack legal work status, have a criminal record affecting employment eligibility, or are evading unpaid child support or tax judgements — obtain someone else's SSN or NIN through data breaches, dark-web markets, or theft. They use the real identifier alongside a slightly different name or with fabricated supporting documents.

Once hired, the employer reports wages to the tax authority under the fraudster's provided identifier — your SSN. At year end, you receive (or do not receive — if the employer sends W-2s to the fraudster's address) an income statement for wages you never earned. If you file a tax return based only on your actual income, the IRS or HMRC may notice that wages reported by an employer do not match your return and generate a discrepancy notice.

In some cases, the fraudster files a tax return in your name and claims a refund based on the wages they earned but the withholding you are theoretically owed. This creates a collision between your legitimate return and their fraudulent one.

Employment identity theft is low-visibility: the fraudster is not spending your money or damaging your credit — they are earning income under your name. There is no immediate alert, no fraud notification, and often no obvious trigger until annual tax or Social Security processes surface the discrepancy. By then, the fraudster may have worked under your identity for several years, creating a substantial record that takes significant effort to untangle.

IRS Notice CP2000: our records show that you received income of [Amount] from [Employer] that was not reported on your [Year] tax return. Please explain.

Your Social Security statement shows earnings of [Amount] from [Employer Name] in [Year]. If you did not work for this employer, contact us at [Number].

HMRC: our records indicate you received income from [Employer] in the tax year [Year] that is not reflected in your Self Assessment return.

[State Child Support Agency]: wage garnishment has been applied to earnings associated with your Social Security Number at [Employer]. Contact us if this is in error.

Background check result for [Your Name]: employment history includes [Job Title] at [Company] from [Date] to [Date]. Please confirm or dispute.

Review your Social Security earnings record at ssa.gov at least annually — it lists every employer and wage amount reported under your SSN by year. In the UK, log into your Government Gateway account to see your National Insurance earnings record. If you see an employer or income amount you do not recognise, contact the tax authority promptly. Also check your annual tax transcripts for W-2 or P60 entries that do not match your own records.