{"id":288,"date":"2015-04-14T16:05:42","date_gmt":"2015-04-14T20:05:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/whysecurity\/?p=288"},"modified":"2015-04-15T08:19:29","modified_gmt":"2015-04-15T12:19:29","slug":"income-tax-fraud-how-to-protect-yourself","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/whysecurity\/2015\/04\/14\/income-tax-fraud-how-to-protect-yourself\/","title":{"rendered":"Income Tax Fraud: How to Protect Yourself"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Nationwide, many taxpayers have attempted to file their federal and state income tax returns, only to find out that criminals have already filed fraudulent returns and claimed refunds. \u00a0The\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.vermontbiz.com\/news\/february\/vermont-department-taxes-warns-refund-fraud-connected-identity-theft\"><span class=\"s2\">Vermont Department of Taxes<\/span><\/a>\u00a0explains: \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\" style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><span class=\"s1\">Refund fraud occurs when a criminal uses stolen identification of a\u00a0taxpayer, including Social Security Number, to create a phony return.\u00a0\u00a0Often the criminal will use software to generate fraudulent returns in\u00a0multiple states using the same stolen identification. Identity theft\u00a0is a\u00a0well-known problem, and can result from a data breach, scam, or loss of\u00a0a wallet.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Last year, the IRS reported 875,000 cases of tax identity theft, and news reports indicate that fraud continues at a high rate this tax season. \u00a0 UVM is aware of fewer than two dozen employees who have been victims of this type of fraud. \u00a0There are numerous potential sources of the personal information needed to file a tax return, and investigations into the cases reported by UVM employees, which are continuing, have not shown evidence of a compromise of UVM databases or information systems. \u00a0Stolen personal information, such as Social Security numbers stolen in widely reported corporate breaches, is readily available in underground marketplaces, and finding additional information such as employer EINs is facilitated by free online databases. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<h4 class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">How to Protect Yourself<\/span><\/h4>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">If you&#8217;re notified by the IRS or a state tax department that someone has filed a fraudulent tax return in your name, take these steps to \u00a0resolve the issue and protect yourself:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<ul class=\"ul1\">\n<li class=\"li1\"><span class=\"s1\">Follow the steps suggested by the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.irs.gov\/uac\/Taxpayer-Guide-to-Identity-Theft\"><span class=\"s2\">IRS<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.state.vt.us\/tax\/idtheft.shtml\"><span class=\"s2\">Vermont D<\/span><\/a>epartment of Taxes, including:\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul class=\"ul2\">\n<li class=\"li1\"><span class=\"s1\">File a report with law enforcement (your local police department)\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\"><span class=\"s1\">File a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\"><span class=\"s1\">Respond immediately to any IRS notice\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\"><span class=\"s1\">Complete IRS Form 14039, Identity Theft Affidavit\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\"><span class=\"s1\">Continue to pay your taxes and file your tax return, even if you must do so by paper\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\"><span class=\"s1\">Contact one of the three major credit bureaus to place a fraud alert on your credit records\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\"><span class=\"s1\">Notify UVM&#8217;s Information Security Operations Team at <a href=\"mailto:iso@uvm.edu\"><span class=\"s2\">iso@uvm.edu<\/span><\/a>, or UVM Police Services\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\"><span class=\"s1\">You may also want to:\u00a0<\/span>\n<ul class=\"ul2\">\n<li class=\"li1\"><span class=\"s1\">Contact your financial institutions, and close any accounts opened without your permission or tampered with<\/span><\/li>\n<li class=\"li1\"><span class=\"s1\">Check your Social Security Administration earnings statement annually\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">If you&#8217;ve been notified by a company or organization that your personal information has been compromised, even if you&#8217;re not a victim of tax return fraud, follow the steps above with the exception of the IRS-specific items. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Additional sources of information and guidance:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\" style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.uvm.edu\/police\/?Page=alerts\/index.php\" target=\"_blank\">Identity Theft (UVM Police Services) <\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\" style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><span class=\"s3\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.consumer.ftc.gov\/articles\/0008-tax-related-identity-theft\">Tax-Related Identity Theft (Federal Trade Commission)<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\" style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><span class=\"s3\"><a href=\"https:\/\/turbotax.intuit.com\/tax-tools\/tax-tips\/General-Tax-Tips\/Identity-Theft--What-to-Do-if-Someone-Has-Already-Filed-Taxes-Using-Your-Social-Security-Number\/INF23035.html\">What to Do if Someone Has Already Filed Taxes Using Your\u00a0Social Security Number (Intuit)<\/a><\/span><span class=\"s4\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\" style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><span class=\"s3\"><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.wsj.com\/totalreturn\/2015\/03\/19\/the-irs-tackles-tax-id-fraud\/\">IRS Tackles Tax Identity Fraud (Wall Street Journal)<\/a><\/span><span class=\"s4\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p3\" style=\"padding-left: 30px\"><span class=\"s3\"><a href=\"http:\/\/www.thefiscaltimes.com\/2015\/04\/10\/IRS-Struggles-Help-Victims-Identity-Fraud\">IRS Struggles to Help Victims of Identity Fraud (Fiscal Times)<\/a><\/span><span class=\"s4\">\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"p1\"><span class=\"s1\">Please contact the\u00a0Information Security Operations Team at <a href=\"mailto:iso@uvm.edu\"><span class=\"s2\">iso@uvm.edu<\/span><\/a> with any questions, concerns, or suggestions. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Nationwide, many taxpayers have attempted to file their federal and state income tax returns, only to find out that criminals have already filed fraudulent returns and claimed refunds. \u00a0The\u00a0Vermont Department of Taxes\u00a0explains: \u00a0 Refund fraud occurs when a criminal uses stolen identification of a\u00a0taxpayer, including Social Security Number, to create a phony return.\u00a0\u00a0Often the criminal &hellip; <\/p>\n<p class=\"link-more\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/whysecurity\/2015\/04\/14\/income-tax-fraud-how-to-protect-yourself\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Income Tax Fraud: How to Protect Yourself&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":252,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-288","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"author_info":{"display_name":"Dean","author_link":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/whysecurity\/author\/djw\/"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/whysecurity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/whysecurity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/whysecurity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/whysecurity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/252"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/whysecurity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=288"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/whysecurity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":296,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/whysecurity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/288\/revisions\/296"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/whysecurity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=288"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/whysecurity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=288"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blog.uvm.edu\/whysecurity\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=288"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}