Identity theft protection and Tax Refund
Identity thieves are using stolen social security numbers to file bogus tax returns and collect refunds on an even grander scale this year. Identity theft occurs when someone uses your personal information such as your name, Social Security Number (SSN), or other identifying information, without your permission, to commit fraud or other crimes. In many cases, an identity thief uses a legitimate taxpayer’s identity to fraudulently file a tax return and claim a refund.
How could this possibly happen? And what do you do about it? That is the bad news. The IRS’s policy is to “pay then chase.” So they pay these crooks thousands to millions of dollars – no kidding. They pay what the return states. Later when it is claimed fraudulent by the real filer, the IRS goes looking for them. You can probably guess the IRS or the Police’s success rate on catching these guys. Here is the real catch. You get put in IRS limbo for about a year. Naturally, if they used your tax return then your legitimate return is going to get rejected. You will get a huge bill from the IRS. You will not get your refund for at least a year (on average). The thieves typically “bundle” all the returns from that year. They then sell them to the next thief and it starts all over the next year. Some thieves will wait several years and then do it again.
The law allows you to put a pin number on your account so it cannot happen to you. But here is the catch – the IRS in their infinite wisdom will not let you put the pin number on there until AFTER you have become a victim. They will not protect you until you get victimized. Incredible but true. Therefore KeepMyID providing Best Identity Theft Prevention against identity theft.
So you can do three things. File on Day One. Do not file an electronic return -- always file a paper return. More importantly, get an Identity theft protection service that covers Tax Fraud.
www.keepmyID.org covers ALL ID theft – including Tax Fraud and we, unlike the IRS, are glad to help you before you get victimized.
How could this possibly happen? And what do you do about it? That is the bad news. The IRS’s policy is to “pay then chase.” So they pay these crooks thousands to millions of dollars – no kidding. They pay what the return states. Later when it is claimed fraudulent by the real filer, the IRS goes looking for them. You can probably guess the IRS or the Police’s success rate on catching these guys. Here is the real catch. You get put in IRS limbo for about a year. Naturally, if they used your tax return then your legitimate return is going to get rejected. You will get a huge bill from the IRS. You will not get your refund for at least a year (on average). The thieves typically “bundle” all the returns from that year. They then sell them to the next thief and it starts all over the next year. Some thieves will wait several years and then do it again.
The law allows you to put a pin number on your account so it cannot happen to you. But here is the catch – the IRS in their infinite wisdom will not let you put the pin number on there until AFTER you have become a victim. They will not protect you until you get victimized. Incredible but true. Therefore KeepMyID providing Best Identity Theft Prevention against identity theft.
So you can do three things. File on Day One. Do not file an electronic return -- always file a paper return. More importantly, get an Identity theft protection service that covers Tax Fraud.
www.keepmyID.org covers ALL ID theft – including Tax Fraud and we, unlike the IRS, are glad to help you before you get victimized.