What Is Employment Identity Theft and How Does It Happen?
6 Min Read | Published: August 5, 2024
This article contains general information and is not intended to provide information that is specific to American Express products and services. Similar products and services offered by different companies will have different features and you should always read about product details before acquiring any financial product.
Employment identity theft occurs when someone steals your Social Security number or other information to apply for a job. See how to safeguard against it.
At-A-Glance
- Employment identity theft occurs when someone steals your personal information to apply for a job.
- If you have spotted signs of employment identity theft, it’s important to report it to the relevant parties. These include the Social Security Administration (SSA), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and Federal Trade Commission (FTC).
- To help safeguard against employment identity theft, remember to keep your personal information safe, use public Wi-Fi carefully, and avoid including your Social Security number (SSN) on employment applications.
Employment identity theft is a serious crime that occurs when someone steals your personal information to apply for a job in your name. The consequences can be far-reaching and may result in a damaged work history, issues with taxes, and more. The good news is that there are steps you can take to resolve employment identity theft and things that you can do to help keep yourself safe in the future.
In this article, we’ll look at how employment identity theft occurs, what you should do if it happens to you, as well as steps for safeguarding against its damaging effects.
How Does Employment Identity Theft Happen?
Employment identity theft occurs when someone steals your Social Security number (SSN) or other personal information and uses it to apply for a job in your name. It typically happens when an individual is disqualified from work in some way.1
Employment identity theft can happen when an individual is disqualified for work due to poor employment history or even legal status. One example of this would be someone who may not have a legal right to work in the United States. Another scenario would be someone who has a checkered work history and may not be able to pass a background check using their own SSN. In these cases, a dishonest individual may opt to use an SSN that doesn’t belong to them in order to find employment.
Employment identity theft can also happen when someone is posing as an individual with certain qualifications or credentials that they don’t have, such as a college degree or professional license.
Social Security numbers can be stolen online or from job applications that you’ve submitted to potential employers in the past. Individuals who have access to those documents could use them to apply for a job themselves. They might also sell them on the dark web or use them to access your bank accounts.
Steps to Safeguard Against Identity Theft
False information on your employment record could lead to additional tax liabilities or affect your Social Security benefits when you retire. Those are just two of several reasons it’s critical to safeguard against identity theft. Here are some suggestions on how to do that:
- Keep Your Information Safe
Be alert for people trying to look over your shoulder when entering your information into an online form and never give out personally identifiable information over the phone. Identity thieves look for these opportunities, so take extra precautions to keep your information safe. - Verify Job Listings
Verify job listings and offers before you apply for them. The simplest way is to look up the company and call their phone number to verify they’re hiring. You can also check their website to see if they have available jobs listed there. If you can’t verify that they are hiring, then it’s best to avoid applying. - Avoid Putting Your SSN on Employment Applications
Whenever possible, avoid including your SSN on the initial job application. As a general guideline, it’s best for employers to request an SSN only when it’s absolutely necessary. Ideally, this should be done at the stage when they are conducting a background check. - Use Public Wi-Fi with Caution
Hackers and identity thieves thrive in public Wi-Fi environments. The security isn’t always great, and users can be careless with their personal information. Be particularly cautious when entering usernames and passwords into sites you visit frequently, and try to avoid accessing your credit card or bank accounts using public Wi-Fi. - Be Aware of Scams
Emails that look official and ask you to click a link are often phishing scams designed to steal your information. The same tactic is also used with text messages. To avoid these scams, don’t click any links. Instead, ignore them. If the message seems important, you can always conduct an internet search to find the website and contact them via the phone number on their site to verify they’re legitimate. - Monitor Your Credit
Your credit report will show you where you have credit accounts and whether anyone has made credit inquiries about you. You can access your credit reports at Experian®, Equifax®, or TransUnion®. Check your report carefully and report anything that doesn’t look familiar to the proper authorities.
- It’s also important to be aware of the signs of identity theft.
What You Can Do If You Think You’ve Been a Victim of Employment Identity Theft
Employment identity theft is often discovered when the party affected receives a W2 in the mail for a job they did not work. If this happens to you, you’ll want to notify the Social Security Administration (SSA), Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and Federal Trade Commission (FTC). They can work with you to help you remove erroneous information from your name.2 Notify local police and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) if mail fraud is involved.
Contact the three credit bureaus if you believe that your stolen information was used to open new credit accounts, even if those accounts improve your credit score. The bureaus must have accurate records on you so you’re not committing fraud the next time you apply for a loan or credit card. Request that any errors be corrected as soon as you detect them.
Did you know?
As an added security measure to help protect against fraud, American Express reports a reference number to credit bureaus – instead of your actual account number.
See how American Express helps to protect you against credit card fraud:
Frequently Asked Questions
You can call the credit bureaus toll-free anytime to place a one-year fraud alert on your credit reports if you’ve been the victim of employment identity theft.3 Here’s their websites where you can find more contact information:
The Federal Trade Commission sponsors the IdentityTheft.gov website specifically for the victims of identity theft. The site has a list of steps you can take to report the theft of your identity, correct your credit report, and help you clear your name.
The Takeaway
Employment identity theft can happen to anyone. To help avoid it, protect your personal information, verify job listings before you apply, be careful when using public Wi-Fi, guard yourself against phishing scams, and monitor your credit report frequently. If your identity has been stolen, immediately notify the relevant parties.
1,2 “What is Employment Identity Theft?,” Equifax
3 “Guide to employment-related identity theft,” Internal Revenue Service (IRS)
Kevin D. Flynn is a financial services provider, business coach, and financial writer. He lives in Leominster, Massachusetts, with his wife Evelyn, two cats, and ten wonderful grandchildren.
All Credit Intel content is written by freelance authors and commissioned and paid for by American Express.
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The material made available for you on this website, Credit Intel, is for informational purposes only and intended for U.S. residents and is not intended to provide legal, tax or financial advice. If you have questions, please consult your own professional legal, tax and financial advisors.
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