Everyone’s favorite day of the year has just passed, Tax Day! Unfortunately, the after effects of April 15th can extend well past a single day because of the growing problem of tax fraud. In fact, over one-third of all identity theft has been IRS tax fraud, and it can happen to you, unexpectedly. Keep your eye out for these warning signs of tax fraud.
If you get a notice from the IRS that more than one tax return has been filed using your Social Security Number, it’s likely that someone has filed taxes on your behalf, which is fraud, and taken your well-deserved tax return instead of you getting it. Next, if you find out that you owe additional taxes or have had collection actions taken against you for a year that you did not file a return, that’s a big warning sign that someone has committed tax fraud using your personal information. And last, and probably the easiest to spot, is when the IRS claims that you have received wages from an employer that you have not worked for, then it’s incredibly likely that someone has used your information to commit IRS tax fraud.
Now that you know a few of the major warning signs of IRS tax fraud, you should know what to do if this happens to you. The first thing you want to do is to contact the three credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion, to place fraud alerts on your records. Next, you will have to file a complaint with the FTC that you have fallen victim to identity theft. And last, you will have to contact all of the financial institutions to close any accounts that have been opened without your permission. This can take hundreds of hours, and that’s if even you know who to call and what to say. That’s why we recommend having LibertyID’s services in your back pocket. LibertyID will take care of the hard work when you are in need. All you have to do is call LibertyID.
The bottom line is that there’s really no better time than the present to become a LibertyID member for identity theft restoration protection. LibertyID provides expert, full service, fully managed identity theft restoration to individuals, couples, extended families* and businesses. LibertyID has a 100% success rate in resolving all forms of identity fraud on behalf of our subscribers.
*Extended families – primary individual, their spouse/partner, both sets of parents (including those that have been deceased for up to a year), and all children under the age of 25