The state Department of Revenue soon will start processing Hoosier income tax returns. Tax season is about to begin — and so is that time of year when identity theft is most common.
Someone files a false tax return using another’s personal information — like a Social Security number — to get a tax refund from the Internal Revenue Service.
Once you’re a victim, you have an uphill battle to reclaim what’s rightfully yours. With that in mind, it’s best to protect yourself and not become a victim in the first place. These tips from the Federal Trade Commission are a good place to start:
- Lock your financial documents and records in a safe place at home.
- Limit what you carry. When you go out, take only the identification, credit and debit cards you need. Leave your Social Security card at home.
- Before you share information at your workplace, a business, your child’s school, or a doctor’s office, ask why they need it, how they will safeguard it, and the consequences of not sharing.
- Shred receipts, credit offers, credit applications, insurance forms, physician statements, checks, bank statements, expired charge cards and similar documents when you don’t need them any longer.
- Destroy the labels on prescription bottles before you throw them out.
- Take outgoing mail to post office collection boxes or the post office. Promptly remove mail that arrives in your mailbox. If you won’t be home for several days, request a vacation hold on your mail.
- Consider opting out of pre-screened offers of credit and insurance by mail. To opt out, call 888-567-8688 or go to optoutprescreen.com.
- Check your credit reports annually.
But if all fails and you suspect you’ve become a victim, notify the fraud departments of all three credit agencies, close all suspect accounts, and file a report with your local police and with police where you believe the crime occurred. You should also notify any government agencies such as the Social Security Administration.
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