Scammers will be on the hunt for your information so that
they can file a tax return in your name and get a refund from the IRS. Some
scammers will get that information from hackers who have successfully conducted
data breaches from major organizations such as Hyatt Hotels, Scottrade, and the
Office of Personnel Management in the federal government. Others might work
locally by following postal carriers, like package thieves who follow UPS and
FedEx trucks, to steal tax documents with sensitive personal information from
W-2’s and 1099’s. With this information, the fraudster can file an IRS return
in your name.
The IRS says that it is implementing procedures to detect
fraud such as working with software filing companies to be alerted when a
mobile device is used to file more than one tax return, when the same IP
address is used to file more than one return, or when a tax return is
auto-generated instead of filed by a live person.
You can protect yourself from mail theft by using a locking
mailbox. If you don’t have a locking mailbox, ask a trusted neighbor to pick up
your mail as soon as it is delivered. Also, keep track of the tax documents
that you should be receiving. If by mid-February you have not received your
documents, call the originator and ask why you have not received them. If one
was sent to you, and you did not receive it, consider placing an immediate
credit freeze with the major credit reporting bureaus.
Another measure to protect yourself is to file your income
taxes as soon as possible. Try to get ahead of the fraudster.
AARP:
ITRC:
No comments:
Post a Comment