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Today is the start of both the FTC’s Tax Identity Theft Awareness Week and the IRS’s tax filing season. What better time to find out how to reduce the risk that you or someone you know wTax Identity Theft Awareness Week logoill become a victim of tax-related identity theft?

Join us this week for free webinars and Twitter chats focused on tax-related identity theft and IRS imposter scams. Hear from experts from the FTC, IRS, Department of Veterans Affairs, the AARP Foundation Tax-Aide program, and elsewhere. There are events for all consumers, and additional information for service members, older adults, and business owners.

Our first event — a webinar for consumers hosted by the FTC and the Identity Theft Resource Center — starts at 2 p.m. EST today. Visit ftc.gov/taxidentitytheft for details about how to participate in all the week’s activities.

What is tax-related identity theft? It happens when someone uses your Social Security number (SSN) to claim your tax refund or earn wages. You might find out that it has happened when you get a notice from the IRS saying more than one tax return was filed with your SSN, or IRS records show you have wage income from an employer you don’t know.

There is some encouraging news though — last year, 22% of the identity theft complaints to the FTC concerned tax-related identity theft, falling from 33% in 2016. Total identity theft complaints to the FTC also were down, dropping to 371,157 complaints in 2017, from 399,223 in 2016. It was the second year in a row that identity theft complaints to the FTC declined.

There also was encouraging news about IRS imposters — the scam callers who say they’re from the IRS and threaten you’ll be arrested or fined unless you pay them immediately for supposed past-due taxes. We received 56,065 complaints about IRS imposters last year, down a whopping 54% from 2016.

Efforts to combat tax-related identity theft and IRS imposters are having an impact. We’ll have to wait to see if the declines turn into long-term trends. In the meantime, you can be sure of this: the more you know about tax-related identity theft and IRS imposter scams, the better your chance of avoiding them. Do join us for a free Tax Identity Theft Awareness Week event.

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The purpose of this blog and its comments section is to inform readers about Federal Trade Commission activity, and share information to help them avoid, report, and recover from fraud, scams, and bad business practices. Your thoughts, ideas, and concerns are welcome, and we encourage comments. But keep in mind, this is a moderated blog. We review all comments before they are posted, and we won’t post comments that don’t comply with our commenting policy. We expect commenters to treat each other and the blog writers with respect.

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mills_ada
January 29, 2018

Bring back the dignity of our American Citizens that want their identities recognized of true nature.

Valvisions
January 29, 2018
My identity was stolen the last quarter of last year while I was looking online for loans and jobs as I am slightly disabled because I don't have the money now behind me to have people help me while I have my left hip replaced. The money they took was returned by my bank but my reputation after dealing with Craigslist and having bad checks put in and taken out of my bank account shows that somebody has a lot more information on me then I care them to have. This is been a horrible time in my life doesn't have to do with my taxes because I owe some taxes about $1,200 and I'll start paying that $100 a month now that I'm beginning to balance back on my feet again but it has been impossible it has been depressing I have been suicidal over the whole thing and it is really something horrible I hope never has to go through cuz it's so invasive using debit cards instead of a bank account for crying out loud. I used to have a 750 credit score now it's probably down to 300 because I couldn't afford to do anything because every time I put money in it would come out. Anyway I'm another one with a problem
FTC Staff
January 30, 2018

In reply to by Valvisions

You can report identity theft at IdentityTheft.gov and create a personal recovery plan in case there are problems because someone has your personal information. You can create a report to law enforcement and letters to send to credit bureaus or companies where your information was misused.

duffencory
January 29, 2018
please send me my 8 digeit irs number
buddykay
January 30, 2018
please send 8 digit IRS number
FTC Staff
January 30, 2018

In reply to by buddykay

Please go to irs.gov to get help from the IRS.

DogMom
January 30, 2018
I have received two calls from the Seattle WA area this morning. Typical scam IRS call stating that I have to pay my back taxes or I will be arrested and criminally charged. I have tried calling the IRS fraud line and can only get a voice mail. I did leave the number that was on my caller ID and where it originated from. Do I need to do anything further? Thank you.
FTC Staff
January 30, 2018

In reply to by DogMom

If someone called and pretended to be from the IRS, you can call 800-366-4484 and follow the directions on the answering machine. If you sent money to the person, you can file a complaint online at this TIGTA website.

 

Jay
February 12, 2018
Heres 1 that will surely leave you scratching your head and saying I'm glad I'm not him. Identity Theft at its WORST...A girl who I was engaged to and in a relationship with for more than 6 LONG YEARS spent a lot of time on facebook and other social sites. I wasn't into it at all but she made me a profile just for fun she said. Some time later I noticed she was logged in under my name. I didn't care to much at first. I trusted the girl. Besides I hadn't used my profile and hadn't planned on it. Over X amount of time I noticed she was always under my profile. We had already been together for years and of course knew everything about me. She had 100s of friends from my hometown and had built a very sophisticated network of friends. The thing is that they all believed it was me. This chick got WEIRD on me after a few years of this behavior. She, while using other profiles of myself on countless sites was no longer staying within ANY SCENCE OF NORMALITY when it came to befriending peopleabt a month before I left her I found a notebook full of email addresses next to names of websites the passwords to each and the screen names to each was a variation of my name. I spot checked a few and sure enough, used my pictures, some taken without me knowing, and all my real personal details listed for everyone to see. And she was active with everyone I checked. I had become disabled and was abt a year and a half into my determination case. I say this because I was meticulous abt saving everything relating to my case. EVERYTHING! Also I decided to just keep every important document that I ever received in what I had at the time were 2 accordion folders that were busting at the seems with everything on the list of personal info to keep away from an identity theif...plus some stuff that should be added to the list as well. Long story short, she kept all of that paperwork and her list of profiles too. I left 4 years ago. Of course I changed banks, cancelled credit cards, froze my credit, bought a sophisticated alarm system,...etc. She applied for credit cards 4 times but was denied because of credit freeze. Score took a hit though. Theres been other incidents. My current girlfriend had a picture of me and her together on some site I had never heard of. In less than 24 hours my ex had created profiles I'm my name, my gf name, and an alias for herself. She has a half dozen or so on fb alone. I found out she had befriended my family as me of course, and so I created my very own fb profile so that I could report the fakes and make her half to start over. Within a couple months, I was banned from fb because they believed her to be me after I reported her. It was gonna be the 3rd imposter taken down that week. Instead I'm banned and she IS me in fb world. Sidenote...I wasn't 100% kosher with fb decision that I was the imposter so I said a few choice words...abt 3 pages of choice words. I'm pretty sure I invented some cuss words that day. Anyway, I already prob have heard, tried, and done any advise anyone can give. But remember this story! Identity Theives aren't always that beady eyed middle aged man waiting to pounce on every tid bit of info you provide over the net. He or she might be sitting right next to you. Armed with enough details to answer every question correctly that anyone would ask to confirm your identity....
FTC Staff
February 12, 2018

In reply to by Jay

Did you report the theft at IdentityTheft.gov? You can create a report to law enforcement and get sample letters to send to credit reporting companies and businesses where your information has been misused.

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