Identity theft is becoming epidemic in this country.  There is not one person who is immune from its virulent talons.

Now, identity theft has apparently claimed another victim: Grey's Anatomy star Sandra Oh. How did she find out?  She was contacted by the long arm of the Internal Revenue Service.

The 40-year-old actress, who plays Cristina Yang on the medical drama, was contacted by the IRS regarding unpaid taxes on earnings from a hotel job in 2009. She apparently was unaware of the identity theft until the IRS contacted her.

Obviously, the actress shouldn't be held accountable for someone else's taxes.  It seems that it was likely an illegal immigrant who used her social security number to get work.

Sandra Oh filed a complaint with the Los Angeles Police Department claiming a hotel employee allegedly had used her social security number as their own on tax documents filed for tax year 2009.  An investigation into the matter has been launched. There is often a high turnover in the hospitality industry, so finding someone who can identify the person who used the actresses’ social security number is highly unlikely.

Clearly Sandra Oh had much bigger things going on in her life than working in a hotel, so the proof of identity theft shouldn't be hard to prove. However, catching the culprit is likely to be more of a challenge.

Hopefully technology will help keep identities safe.  For now, be as careful as you can because you do not want to be the next victim.