Employment Data Freeze with Equifax

• An employer that has hired an individual who is fraudulently using another person’s identity thief may report their wages to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), meaning that you, the victim, owe taxes on income you didn’t earn.
• Unreported wages attributed to your SSN and other tax discrepancies that often result from identity theft may trigger an IRS audit.
• Your Social Security benefits may also be adjusted to your detriment based on the income falsely attributed to you. Victims can spend hours recovering from employment identity theft and working to restore their identity.

If you would like to help prevent access to your employment data, take the extra step by placing an employment data freeze using the Work Number database, an American employment verification database maintained by Equifax.

The Work Number database provides employers who use the service the ability to verify prospective employees.

Here are a few more key details:

• You can request a freeze at any time and at no cost to you.
• If you place a freeze, verifiers will be unable to view your The Work Number data.
• If you want your information to be accessible to certain third parties, you’ll need to remove the freeze.

Keep in mind that a freeze could slow down application processes for things like a loan, a job, or social service benefits if the freeze is not removed prior to such applications.

You can learn more about The Work Number by Equifax on their website.