1. If you receive a letter or notice
from the IRS which leads you to believe someone may have fraudulently used your Social Security Number, respond immediately
to the name and address or phone number printed on the IRS notice.
2. If you
receive a letter from the IRS that indicates more than one tax return was filed for you, this may be a sign that your SSN
was used fraudulently.
3. Another sign that you may be the target of identity
theft is an IRS letter indicating you received wages from an employer unknown to you.
4. The IRS has a department which deals specifically with identity theft issues. The IRS Identity Protection Specialized
Unit is available if you have been in contact with the IRS about an identity theft issue and have not achieved a resolution.
5. You can contact the IRS Identity Protection
Specialized Unit by calling the Identity Theft Hotline at 800-908-4490 Monday through Friday from 8:00 am to 8:00 pm local
time (Alaska and Hawaii follow
Pacific Standard Time).
6. The IRS Identity Protection Specialized Unit is also available if you believe your identity may be
at risk of being stolen due to a lost or stolen purse or wallet or due to questionable activity on our credit card or
your credit report.
7. The IRS never initiates communication with taxpayers about their tax account through emails.
If you receive an e-mail or find a Web site you think is pretending to be the IRS, forward the e-mail or Web site URL to the
IRS at phishing@irs.gov.
8. The IRS has many more resources available to help inform taxpayers about identity theft
on the IRS Web site at IRS.gov. On IRS.gov you can access information on how to report scams and bogus IRS Web sites. You
can also visit the IRS Identity Theft Resource Page, which you can find by typing Identity Theft Resource Page in the search
box on the IRS.gov home page.
9. The Federal
Trade Commission is also available to assist taxpayers with identity theft issues. You can reach them at 877-ID-THEFT (877-438-4338).
10. Visit OnGuardOnline.gov for protection tips from the federal
government and the technology industry
