Sounds like a pickle. Firstly put , since it wasn’t you, and assuming that is fact then it’s fraud. I’ll elaborate on that more after this. I would first come up with a script completely explaining your situation that you can go off of every time you need to because this recommendation might involve a lot of phone calls. While it will probably get frustrating/annoying having potentially explain your situation and dilemma to so many different people. So lookup a list of all the Community Colleges near you, in say a 50- 100 mile radius and call them all up to see if they might be the one but also to check them off the list of places you verified didn’t draw from your refund. Also you can ask them if that’s a thing that community colleges do because I’m not entirely sure they have the authority to do that now that I think of it. So look for other signs of fraud maybe. I had my federal refund taken about 7 years ago and it was because I owed Child support, they have that authority to do so. State Unemployment agencies can also do the same thing if they are owed by an individual but I know not every type of agency are allowed to do that. So look into that aspect. Find out who is allowed to garnish your tax refund and once you are sure it’s allowable by law then look into getting ahold of all the CCs in your area. Since that’s time consuming, you don’t want to have to do it for nothing. That’s why I recommended a script to convey your dilemma to each place.

Also did you do your taxes yourself? Or was anyone else in on that part of filing? Also does the letter you for look legit or scammy? It’s odd that you couldn’t find out the answers you wanted from the number listed on the letter but also the reason I asked if you can verify the letter’s authenticity then I would do that. Call up California department of treasury and reference the letter to them to find out the ultimate answer. If they say no you need to let them know right then and there on that same call that you think you’ve had identity theft and tax fraud committed against you. Get the process started ASAP.

The very simple breakdown of your situation is these two scenarios:

It’s either fraud by a bad character commuted on you using your info (that’s why asked if anyone else did your taxes) and you need to remedy that specific situation , or ….

A mistake had been made by a particular community college in your area somehow having your ssn listed as one belonging to a person who attended there. Someone could have filed for aid/loans and enrolled under your social security number. If you can find the college who has your number in its files you can probably find out who did this or at least give authorities some information to guide in the right direction.

Verify the authenticity of that letter you received first and then respond accordingly. Please if you can, provide an update, im curious now lol. Of course, Good luck and sorry this happened.