Guide To Employment-Related Identity Theft - IRS

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Guide to employment-related identity theft

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If you've received one of the following notices or statements, this may be an indication your Social Security number or other personal information may have been used by another person for employment purposes.

What you should do if you receive a

CP01E Notice

• CP01E Notice
• The notice is for informational purposes only and it doesn't impact your tax account.
• Because of the financial and credit risks associated with identity theft, IRS is providing you with additional steps to proactively protect your financial and credit accounts in the event that your social security number was used for other purposes as well (See section below, Steps you should take if…)
• Although the Employment Related Identity Theft has not impacted your tax account at this time, if you need additional information on the impact to your tax account you should contact the IRS at the number listed on the CP01E Notice.

CP2000 Notice listing wages you didn't earn

• CP2000 Notice

• The notice is a notification of a pending assessment of additional tax, due to unreported income.

• Don't include the income on your tax return or file an amended return if the additional income identified on the "CP2000 Notice" was not earned by you or your spouse (if filing jointly).

• If the income identified is not yours, contact the IRS immediately at the telephone or fax number listed on the CP2000 Notice.

CP2057 Notice and the questionable income is directly related to wages that were not earned by you

• CP2057 Notice

• The notice is for informational purposes only and doesn't impact your tax account.

• Don't contact the IRS. However, you may wish to take additional steps to protect your identity and personal information.

Form W-2 or Form 1099 from an unknown employer

• Form W-2 or Form 1099

• Don't include the income on your tax return or file an amended return.

• Contact the Social Security Administration. They'll review your earnings with you to ensure their records are correct.

• Allow several weeks for the SSA to update their records.

• You may wish to take additional steps to protect your identity and personal information.

Notice from the SSA stating your Social Security benefits have been adjusted/denied because of wages you didn't earn

• Contact the Social Security Administration. They'll review your earnings with you to ensure the records are correct.

• You may review earnings on your online Social Security Benefits Statement. Workers, age 18 and older, may create an account to review their benefits statements.

Steps you should take if you know or suspect you're the victim of employment-related or other form of identity theft

• If you don't already have an Identity Protection PIN, we recommend you use the Get An IP PIN tool in order to protect your tax account from tax related identity theft. The IP PIN authenticates you as the valid filer of the return.

• Place a free one-year fraud alert on your credit reports by contacting any one of the three nationwide credit reporting companies online or through their toll-free numbers. The bureau you contact must tell the other two.

  • Equifax: 800-525-6285
  • Experian: 888-397-3742
  • Trans Union: 800-680-7289
• File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission and browse a complete list of recovery steps.
• Consider locking your SSN through the Department of Homeland Security to prevent anyone else from using your SSN for employment purposes.
• You have the option to submit a Form 14039, Identity Theft Affidavit online, or by printing Form 14039 PDF if you are the victim of tax-related identity theft PDF.
  • Note: Most people don’t need to file this form.
  • Don’t file Form 14039 if:
    • You already sent it to us or filed it through IdentityTheft.gov.
    • We already sent you a letter or notice.
    • The identity theft isn’t tax-related.
    • You used or we tell you to use the Identity and Tax Return Verification Service.
    • You’re a business, trust, estate or tax-exempt organization. Use Form 14039-B, Business Identity Theft Affidavit PDF. Check the Identity theft guide for businesses.
  • File Form 14039 only if:
    • We tell you.
    • You can’t use the Identity and Tax Return Verification Service.
    • You want to tell us about possible tax-related identity theft we don’t have on file, like a data breach.
      • You can file for yourself or another person, including a dependent or deceased person.

Additional resources

• Identity theft central
• Identity theft guide for individuals

Page Last Reviewed or Updated: 31-Mar-2025

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