FTC-IRS Initiative Aims to Make it Easier for Consumers to Report Tax-Related Identity Theft

The Federal Trade Commission and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) are teaming up to make it easier for consumers to report tax-related identity theft and to receive assistance to help recover.

The IRS will now allow consumers to report identity theft to the IRS electronically through the  FTC’s IdentityTheft.gov website. Tax-related identity theft happens when someone uses your stolen Social Security number to file a tax return and claim your refund. Victims of tax-related identity theft need to file an IRS Identity Theft Affidavit, also known as IRS Form 14039, before the IRS can begin resolving the problem. Until this new initiative, consumers could only file an IRS Form 14039 manually.

Under the new FTC-IRS initiative, IdentityTheft.gov will be the first and the only place where consumers can submit an IRS Form 14039 electronically. A new FTC blog post provides more detail about how the process works.

Identitytheft.gov allows consumers to report identity theft and to receive a personal recovery plan. Consumers can also obtain an Identity Theft Report that can be used in place of a police report to help clear their credit reports of fraudulent information, and customized letters they can send to creditors, debt collectors, and others to help recover from identity theft causes.

FTC Hosts Tax Identity Theft Awareness Week January 29-February 2

The Federal Trade Commission will mark Tax Identity Theft Awareness Week, January 29-February 2, with a series of free events to help consumers and businesses reduce their chances of becoming victims.

Tax identity theft occurs when a person uses someone else’s Social Security number to either file a tax return and claim the victim’s refund, or to earn wages that are reported as the victim’s income, leaving the victim with the tax bill.

The FTC will partner with the Internal Revenue Service, the Department of Veterans Affairs, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, and others throughout the week to co-host free webinars and Twitter chats focused on steps consumers and businesses can take to help avoid tax identity theft and recover if it occurs. There will also be discussions about ways to identify and avoid IRS imposter scams that target consumers and businesses.

The events on tap include:

• January 29 at 2 p.m. ET: A webinar for consumers on tax identity theft and IRS imposter scams, how to protect yourself, and how to recover, co-hosted by the FTC and the Identity Theft Resource Center.
   
• January 30 at 2:30 p.m. ET: A webinar for older adults and other consumers on tax identity theft and IRS imposter scams, co-hosted by the FTC, AARP Fraud Watch Network, the AARP Foundation Tax-Aide program, and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.
   
• January 31 at 11 a.m. ET: A Twitter chat for service members, veterans, and their families, co-hosted by the FTC and the Department of Veterans Affairs. Join the conversation at #VeteranIDTheft.
   
• January 31 at 1 p.m. ET: A closed webinar co-hosted by the FTC, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, focused on tax identity theft and IRS imposter scams. This webinar is only available to Veterans Administration employees and patients.
   
• February 1 at 1 p.m. ET: A webinar for small businesses, Protecting Sensitive Business and Customer Data: Practical Identity Safety Practices for Your Business, co-hosted by the FTC and IRS focused on tax identity theft, imposter scams targeting businesses, cybersecurity practices to reduce your risk, and data breach response.
   
• February 1 at 3 p.m. ET: A Twitter chat for consumers on protecting yourself from tax identity theft, co-hosted by the FTC and the Identity Theft Resource Center. Join the conversation at #IDTheftChat.

The Federal Trade Commission works to promote competition and protect and educate consumers. You can learn more about consumer topics and file a consumer complaint online or by calling 1-877-FTC-HELP (382-4357). Like the FTC on Facebook, follow us on Twitter, read our blogs and subscribe to press releases for the latest FTC news and resources.

Contact Information

MEDIA CONTACT:
Juliana Gruenwald Henderson
Office of Public Affairs
202-326-2924
STAFF CONTACT:
Seena Gressin
Bureau of Consumer Protection
202-326-2717

For Consumers

• Tax Identity Theft Awareness Week

Taxpayer ID Theft: Use IRS.gov to Verify Your Identity

The IRS stops and flags suspicious or duplicate federal tax returns that falsely represent your identity, such as your name or social security number. If the IRS suspects tax ID theft, the agency will send a 5071C letter to your home address. If you receive this letter, verify your identity at idverify.irs.gov or call the toll-free number listed in the letter. 


If you are a victim of state tax ID theft, contact your state's taxation department or comptroller's office about the next steps you need to take. 

Identity Theft Tops FTC’s Consumer Complaint Categories Again in 2014

Identity theft topped the Federal Trade Commission’s national ranking of consumer complaints for the 15th consecutive year, while the agency also recorded a large increase in the number of complaints about so-called “imposter” scams, according to the FTC’s 2014 Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book, which was released today.

Imposter scams – in which con artists impersonate government officials or others – moved into third place on the list of consumer complaints, entering the top three complaint categories for the first time. The increase in imposter scams was led by a sharp jump in complaints about IRS and other government imposter scams. Debt collection held steady as the second-most-reported complaint.

Facebook scam: In Farcing, Thieves Ask 'Would You Be My Friend?'

Consider this scenario: You're on Facebook (FB), and you receive two friend requests, both from people you don't know. With one person, you have no mutual friends, and with the other, you have some. Do you accept either request? Both? Just the one who shares your friends?

Scammers are banking on the likelihood you'll accept the request if you have mutual friends -- the more, the better -- even if you have no clue who the requester is. From there, they'll have access to everything you share with friends, and they'll start friending your friends and family to see what they share. All that good stuff helps them reach their ultimate goal: identity theft.

It's called farcing, and a researcher at the University of Buffalo published a study on it in an academic journal called Information Systems Frontier, saying these scams spread quickly and widely, as the scammer gathers friends and appears more legitimate.

More from Daily Financing.

Identity Theft in 2012

Seventeen million Americans aged 16 or older were victims of identity theft in 2012, but only 14 percent of victims experienced out-of-pocket losses of $1 or more. Most were able to resolve the problem in a day or less, according to the Bureau of Justice Statistics' report Victims of Identity Theft, 2012. Despite the relatively minor inconvenience identity theft poses to most of its victims, a substantial 36 percent of identity theft victims reported moderate to severe emotional distress because of the incident.

Victims of identity theft are more likely than nonvictims to take measures to reduce the future risk of theft. Here is the percentage of identity theft victims (and the percentage of nonvictims) who took selected actions in the past 12 months...

Checked bank or credit statements: 92% (74%)
Shredded documents with personal information: 80% (67%)
Changed passwords on financial accounts: 56% (27%)
Checked credit report: 53% (37%)
Used identity theft security program on computer: 25% (16%)
Purchased credit monitoring service: 12% (5%)


Thanks to Demo Memo.

Tax Refund Thefts On The Rise

You're not the only one waiting for your tax refund. Scammers are looking for it too. In fact, every year there are more and more scams designed to steal tax refunds.

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) says these kinds of thefts have increased substantially in the last few years. Between 2010 and 2012, the number of investigations opened by the IRS grew from 224 to 898, according to the latest figures.

Find out more about tax refund scams, how to protect yourself from identity theft and what to do if you are a victim.

Victims of Identity Theft, 2008

Source: Bureau of Justice Statistics

Presents findings from the 2008 Identity Theft Supplement (ITS) to the National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS). The NCVS/ITS used interviews from a nationally representative sample of about 56,500 U.S. household residents to collect the first BJS data on individual victims of identity theft. Identity theft is defined as the unauthorized use or attempted use of existing accounts, the unauthorized use or attempted use of personal information to open a new account, and the misuse or attempted use of personal information for a fraudulent purpose. The report details the number and percentage of persons who reported at least one incident of identity theft over the past two years, the amount of direct and indirect financial loss due to identity theft, victim reporting to credit bureaus and law enforcement agencies, and the impact of identity theft on victims'lives.

•An estimated 11.7 million persons, representing 5% of all persons age 16 or older in the United States, experienced at least one type of identity theft in a 2-year period.
•Although the total financial cost of identity theft was nearly $17.3 billion over a 2-year period, less than a quarter (23%) of identity theft victims suffered an out-of-pocket financial loss from the victimization.
•About 42% of victims spent 1 day or less working to resolve the financial and credit problems associated with the identity theft; however, 3% continued to experience problems related to the theft more than 6 months after discovering it.

Predicting Social Security numbers from public data

"Information about an individual’s place and date of birth can be exploited to predict his or her Social Security number (SSN). Using only publicly available information, we observed a correlation between individuals’ SSNs and their birth data and found that for younger cohorts the correlation allows statistical inference of private SSNs. The inferences are made possible by the public availability of the Social Security Administration’s Death Master File and the widespread accessibility of personal information from multiple sources, such as data brokers or profiles on social networking sites. Our results highlight the unexpected privacy consequences of the complex interactions among multiple data sources in modern information economies and quantify privacy risks associated with information revelation in public forums."

Identity theft

From someone who's been a victim a couple times, what to do.