Identity Theft. Everybody’s heard of it. Some have experienced it. One of the worst things a person can go through.
When people think of identity theft, they usually think of someone getting ahold of their personal information and taking out loans and credit cards in their names and trashing their credit. But having worked with hundreds of people each year- the most common type of identity theft that I see is tax identity theft. This is where someone gets your personal information, fills out a fraudulent tax return in your name, has a refund issued to their bank account and then when you go to file with the IRS, they won’t accept your returns because “you’ve already filed.” This becomes extra problematic when you are due a refund and cannot access that refund without spending months and time filling out forms.
Everyone knows to keep their personal information safe (don’t put your social security card in your wallet or purse, never send tax returns or w2’s via email unless encrypted- and so forth), but I want to add one more thing to that list. If you are due a refund- always, always, always file your tax returns just as soon as you have the information to do so. Don’t wait. This is your best defense against tax identity fraud.
Here are 6 things everyone should be doing in today’s market to best protect against identity theft.
1) Credit monitoring.
I believe everyone should have some form of credit monitoring in place. Even if you do everything right, all it takes is one of your creditors to be hacked (Experian? Target?) and your personal information is now out there. With all the hacks, chances are very good your personal information may be already out there.
2) Don’t carry your social security card in your wallet/purse with your driver’s license.
Someone gets ahold of your driver’s license and social security card- they now have all the information they need to steal your identity.
3) Never open emails from people you don’t know being especially careful not to click on any links or attachments.
4) Never respond to an email that appears to be from the IRS or one of your creditors asking for personal information.
They’ll never do that- only fraudulent people do that.
5) As mentioned above, if you’re due a tax refund- always file your tax returns just as soon as you can.
6) Never send tax returns, w2’s, etc. via email unless they are password protected.
Email is not secure.
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