One thing ends, another begins.
Mar. 22nd, 2025 09:11 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
feng_shui_houseI finally did the taxes yesterday after weeks of trying to answers to my very basic questions. The internet didn't know, the user forums didn't know, the FAQ on two tax programs didn't know, people who worked for the IRS for the government didn't know.
It turns out the tax program changed in the interval and the page that had basically told me the wrong thing was gone, and just following the walk through worked.
Of course, NOW there's a new problem. I paid for an extra which was supposed to do two things- provide support if your return gets audited, and monitor you for Identity Protection. I got a report that someone's using my Social Security number, and my email is available on the Dark Web.
*ARGH* So I have to figure out what to do about that. The last time, many years ago, something similar happened (I went to a different grocery store than my usual, and the credit card company decided that meant someone stole my card and they were canceling it) I called and the 'confirm your identity' questions were all WRONG. They asked me about cars and homes I'd never owned, places I'd never live at and didn't ask me anything I COULD answer.
I finally broke down and cried because that was my ONLY credit card and I couldn't qualify for a different card company. So they relented and took the hold off the card.
So... now, I'm afraid to try to do anything. They warn if you try to get a credit report they'll ask Hard Questions and I'm... what publicly available proof of identity do I have? I've lived at the same address all my life, briefly owned a car I was conned into buying but couldn't drive (don't even remember the brand name)... dug up a long outdated passport... I guess I'll try to gather info...family birth places/maiden names/ etc?
The dates on the monitoring report go back years and years, so probably whatever they did has already been done so rushing is unlikely to make any difference.
It turns out the tax program changed in the interval and the page that had basically told me the wrong thing was gone, and just following the walk through worked.
Of course, NOW there's a new problem. I paid for an extra which was supposed to do two things- provide support if your return gets audited, and monitor you for Identity Protection. I got a report that someone's using my Social Security number, and my email is available on the Dark Web.
*ARGH* So I have to figure out what to do about that. The last time, many years ago, something similar happened (I went to a different grocery store than my usual, and the credit card company decided that meant someone stole my card and they were canceling it) I called and the 'confirm your identity' questions were all WRONG. They asked me about cars and homes I'd never owned, places I'd never live at and didn't ask me anything I COULD answer.
I finally broke down and cried because that was my ONLY credit card and I couldn't qualify for a different card company. So they relented and took the hold off the card.
So... now, I'm afraid to try to do anything. They warn if you try to get a credit report they'll ask Hard Questions and I'm... what publicly available proof of identity do I have? I've lived at the same address all my life, briefly owned a car I was conned into buying but couldn't drive (don't even remember the brand name)... dug up a long outdated passport... I guess I'll try to gather info...family birth places/maiden names/ etc?
The dates on the monitoring report go back years and years, so probably whatever they did has already been done so rushing is unlikely to make any difference.
