Well, the good news is that most of us got past the tax filing deadline which was on Monday.

The bad news is that some of you still didn't file.  I guess that puts me in a better position than you even though I have had such difficulty with the IRS this year.

And here's another BOMBSHELL that they laid on me this year.

After filing my taxes, my tax lady called me a little late at night to let me know that I couldn't eFile because somebody had stole my daughter's Social Security Number and filed taxes so they could get the child tax credit.

Immediately I thought... What the f***??

Here I am, having filed since the tax year of 2008 with my daughter on EVERY FILING, and then I'm told that some random John Con filed taxes using her information!

Even worse...

The BURDEN OF PROOF lied squarely on MY shoulders to prove that this girl belonged to me!

WHAT??

How about THIS, IRS...?

I've been filing with her on my return since the 2008 tax year.

She has my SAME middle name and last name.

I'm on her birth certificate.

I have her passport AND a California state ID with OUR address on it where I've been filing returns for MANY years.

I have her immunization card.  (Yes, they asked for that too!)

Yet...John Con (that isn't his real name but I had to name the fraudster something) can just randomly file using my daughter's information on a random return without proving ANY of these details.  And the stupid IRS gave HIM the money for the tax credit and REFUSED to give it to me!

You'd think that the U.S. Government would be a little smarter.  After all, getting tax money from all of us is the MAIN WAY they raise revenue for their budget.  Yet, they DON'T have top-of-the-line state-of-the-art software in place.  They DON'T protect their income revenues.  And they EXPOSE American citizens to all kinds of fraud and negligence because they refuse to hire a few top software developers to get a robust system in place.

And they are LOSING money left and right because of it!

Whatever.

There is a Silver Lining in all of this.  After I was done with my mini-stroke/panic-attack, I asked my tax lady about how all this works.  She told me that it'll take the government about 6 to 8 months to process my identity theft form (that included all the proof that this girl is, in fact, my daughter) and that, from now on, my daughter will have a PIN to file taxes with.  This means that nobody will ever be able to do this to her again.

I think EVERYBODY should get a PIN to file their taxes.  Except, yet again, the foolish IRS won't allow anyone to have a PIN upon request.  No.  That would be too easy to thwart fraud.  Instead, you MUST be a victim of identity theft through your taxes to get a PIN.  So, my daughter will have a PIN.  Just for the hell of it, I asked if I could have one too.  I'll keep you posted on what they say (although I'm sure I'll be refused this request).  I don't really need one anyway because I told you my story about what I go through with the IRS...and how I NEVER get money back anyway.  So, no fraudster would have any interest in stealing my stuff because they'd never get a refund back.

This is just a RUDE AWAKENING that you must ALWAYS protect yourself AT ALL TIMES.  Keep your information SAFE.  I use LifeLock.  Not sure if it's any good but at least they have a hefty insurance policy in case anything does happen.

On average, every 60 to 90 days one of my credit cards gets compromised.  In years past, this would maybe happen every two to three years.  Maybe.  Now it happens several times a year.  And it's only going to get worse.

I was talking to one of the guys at American Express after my last credit card got compromised, complaining about how this seems to be happening with greater frequency to me.  He sighed and said, "You have no idea how bad it is.  No clue."

I didn't ask what he was talking about but I can only assume that fighting fraud requires them to have state-size tech and legal departments to deal with this constantly growing epidemic.

Too bad the U.S Government doesn't care to have the same tech and legal consideration when it comes to THEIR REVENUE being stolen by common thugs.

I guess every organization has their own priorities.  Unfortunately, it seems that Capital One and American Express has more interest in protecting me than my own government does.  And that's such a shame, don't you think??

After pulling myself out of my dismal despair and anger over the IRS stuff, I realized this:  I just have to KEEP MOVING FORWARD.  Or as Dory (the fish in the Disney movies Finding Nemo and Finding Dory) always says, "Just keep swimming."

That's right.

Just keep swimming.

Just keep moving forward.

And for me, it's about focusing on my real estate and book projects. 

My book The Lost Secret is going to be available in bookstores on November 5th of this year. 

And I have something exciting with real estate that I wanted to share with you.  CLICK HERE to find out what it is.

See you at the top!

Your mentor,

Monica Main

P.S.  My Inner Success Retreat is just around the corner on May 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th in Monterey, California.  CLICK HERE to find out how you can snatch one of the last couple of spots I have left!