Clear as mud!
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Programmatically wiping the SSN for a return thatâs been cleared should be relatively simple. However, I suspect the IRS is using a spaghetti-coded system of various and sundry languages most, if not all, from the 20th century. So if they could find\hire people who could decode the existing code it would probably be a long and arduous task.
Of course before they could hire said persons, they would need to prepare a change request, which would need to be approved. The hiring of qualified engineers\developers would have to be placed for bids.
Once those qualified are on board, they would have to prepare design documents detailing every change to be made. As those changes are made, each would need to be documented. Then you start the testing and QA of the entire system to ensure the changes have no unintended consequences. Then all of the documentation must be audited and approved.
In other words, be glad you got a human on the phone, because Iâm thinking 2028 before the IRS could effect any meaningful change 
ETA: Itâs a simple âdelete number from table where conditions apply.â But now you know why the airlines are still relying on antiquated reports designed in the '70s and '80s.
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because COBOL expertise retired years ago (itâs a 50 year old language).
I used to have the knowledge to get this to run
000100 IDENTIFICATION DIVISION.
000200 PROGRAM-ID. MFPROG1.
000300 PROCEDURE DIVISION.
000400 MAIN-PARA.
000500 DISPLAY âHELLO WORLDâ
000600 STOP RUN.
I no longer do (btw, this is basically the simplest program you can write in a given language).
** I have no idea if the IRS still uses cobol, but Iâm certain their systems are antiquated and getting anything changed is expensive, inefficient and time consuming.
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Kim and Anaxagoras have said it. In laymanâs terms if the program is altered, even a single character, that might even cause the whole system to collapse. Only the original programmer would know how to do it safely (although by now he wonât even remember that he wrote it 
). Else you need language experts who could study the whole system and then alter it which then requires a whole new project to make sure itâs safe again. I donât think anyone would go that far unless thereâs a supreme court order.
To explain the language situation a little bit more, an example is: a program uses a single function or a procedure (a certain small independent part of the program) to perform similar computations that recur at multiple places. If you change one of those procedures or functions, then it will affect many other places where the same function or procedure is used. E.g. if you add a zero to one record using a function, it will add a zero to all similar calculatuons. Imagine that!
And explained above is just one âhazardousâ element. There are hundreds of such elements in a program.
I used to program in Turbo Pascal in the 90s.
Itâs actually a miracle you sorted it out so easily at least that far.
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This happened to my friend after her mother passed â apparently that is a common fraud, because by the time the family gets around to filing a return for the deceased, fraudsters have already gotten the jump on them by farming for dead people. So gross. Took her a lot longer than 3 minutes to fix the situation, and a lot of emotional trauma too on top of losing her parent and all that entails. So many horrible people out thereâŚ
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Yes and they all seem to target the youngest and oldest of society,
My sister recently had a check stolen\washed. What a nightmare (closing\opening bank accounts, updating payment info for monthly bills, etc). She said if these guys put as much effort into working as they do into stealing . . .
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Probably learned more than you cared to 
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Yes⌠Iâve been hearing more and more about this âcheck washingâ. I recently read an article warning people about mailing checks. Criminals are actually using a string and a gooey substance (think pest glue board) to âfishâ envelopes out of the blue mailboxes at various locations. Then using chemicals âwashâ everything except the signature, re-write them and try to cash the checks.
The last time I needed to pay something by check, I went and got a money order. I figured it was worth the 69 cents.
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Yes, fortunately my sister and BIL are very careful: they only put enough in checking to cover their monthly bills and they have a relatively modest limit on their overdraft protection. And fortunately the âwashersâ were very greedy, so the credit union did not cash the check before calling sis. But they still had to close their account, open a new one, get new ATM\debit cards, update all of their autopay accounts. Oddly there are a few things that require checks. Personally I cannot even remember the last time I wrote a checkâmaybe my nephewâs graduation gift? (And that was in a card that I handed him personally.)
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Yes, that happened to me too. Within an hour of being robbed, the whole book of checks in my purse were washed and sent out from the drug âclearing houseâ to many different crooks. Before the day was over, the whole checkbook was spent. One interesting fraud was that of a crook used my auto club and insurance card to purchase multiple bundles of travelerâs checks to purchase all sorts of things, including U-Haul rentals. In the end, I had to get an attorney, get a letter from my dead mother (not really, but the process was that difficult) to get a new driverâs license and re-establish my good name. My bank at the time, WtF we called them later, was not helpful at all, putting every obstacle in front of me and delaying my ability to establish a new checking account. The credit cards were cancelled immediately and I had no problems at all with them. The bank really messed with me and we dropped them. It was amusing to see my forged signature on some of the checks. The forged signature didnât even match the spe!ling of the printed name onbthe check. It looked like a five year old wrote the check. Since it was a brand new book of checks in my purse, I knew which sequence was stolen. Thankfully the checkbook register was a home. From that experience I now only carry the number of checks I figure I will need for my errands, usually just two or three. My employer was very nasty about having to replace all the locks for work keys I had in my purse. Iâm sure the cost of that exceeded the cost of the doctor and PT visits I had for having my purse wrenched from my shoulder and arm in the dentistâs waiting room! Like I was going to reimburse my employer? All in all it took a little over SIX YEARS to remove the red flags from my credit. Six years. It happened 30 years ago and things were simpler in some ways. Everybody, beware out there, you never know when youâll get zinged by some scam. I hope your sister recovered from that; it just isnât fair.
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Wow, that sounds like an absolute nightmare.
I think banks (and credit unions, which my family prefers) are much more careful these days. In fact my sister and I were talking about it the other day: my CU asked me for ID when I was depositing a check (I say anyone who wants to deposit to my account should be free to do so 
and my sister had a check written to her using the shortened version of her legal name and her CU would not allow her to deposit it.
Criminals have made life more difficult for all of us, yet they continue to find ways to get the money.
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My FIL said, " they grow up to be politicians!"
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Our local 24-hour post office had to take out the drop box right in front of the building. Guys pulled up in a truck, wrapped it with chains, tore it off the moorings and threw it into the back of the truck.
Smart move. Either that, or just remove O/D protection completely. As our kids each got checking accts, I told them they needed to opt out of O/D protection (itâs automatic at our CU) and just watch what they were doing in terms of not writing rubber.
Of course, nowadays like you mention, checks are pretty few and far between. I think the only places I write checks is for IRS and some other government services at probate where they only accept check as payment - getting copies of marriage or birth certificates, or other certified docs.
Sorry to hear about their hassles, though - no matter what itâs a pain. All 6 of us have credit freezes applied at the 3 major bureaus, but even then youâve still got to worry about attempts at banking theft like your sister had, and (as I was recently reminded) tax return ID theft.
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Yes, in our area the majority of outdoor boxes have been removedâand the news programs often warn against putting outgoing mail in home mailboxes. Apparently the only safe way now is to mail checks from inside the post office.
The old saying, " The check is in the mail" comes to mind as an excuse for late payments caused by the PO these days. Six days to get from Rocky Mountain West to LA? Apparently it goes eastward to Denver, first. At least it got there. Some have been lost, even registered ones. New postal rates coming in May!
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I think I know the bank. Iâve had a similar experience dealing with them personally, and Iâm a lawyer.
Check washing seems to be rampant in my neighborhood (according to NextDoor)- blue boxes are indeed targeted. People who must write checks are taking them to the post office to mail them. I donât carry them with me anymore;I hardly use them, and use special ink when I do. Ironically, electronic payment, properly set up, is now safer. Whoâd have ever imagined?
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Are you saying this happened in your dentist waiting room? Was it another patient?
Wild turkey on the property tonight, strutting around like he owns the place. Apparently, itâs mating season. Meanwhile, weâve got the windows open tonight because it is finally warm enough and I can hear the peepers for the first time this year. That is very happy making!
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Funny, I opened the windows yesterday (itâs actually downright warm in the house right now). I had forgotten the tree outside my bedroom window is home to very chatty birds. They were very active this morning. But then there are certainly worse noises to awaken to.
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