• It’s Identity Theft Day!

    Posted on April 15, 2025 at 16:05 CDT by • Comment in the Forums

    It’s April 15, 2025, the day I call Identity Theft Day. In America, you may call it the tax deadline, but for me, in addition to being the date that we need to file or extend tax returns, it’s also the day that I find out who’s had their Identity stolen this year.

    So far, I’ve seen one dependent and one taxpayer who had their identity stolen. For the  child, this is a gift that keeps on giving because this year it’s Big sister’s turn to have to file an Identity theft affidavit. Several years ago, it was her brother’s turn. Both were impacted by a breach in a school’s master database several years ago and now the kids IDs are used as “bogus” dependents on other returns.

    Starting in September, the White House wants to take steps to phase out accepting and sending checks in the mail. Lost refund checks are a big problem.

    What can you do about identity theft?

    1. File early. Whomever files first — whether attacker or actual taxpayer — is seen in the system first.
    2. Consider signing up for a voluntary identity protection PIN. This is a special number that gets mailed to you in early January and has to be in your electronically filed tax return in order to match up the info.  Without the PIN, the attacker can’t grab your identity. Yes, you will need to look for this piece of paper mailed to you in early January or log into your online IRS account to obtain it each year. It’s a slight hassle, but I think it’s worth it.

    If you file a tax return, consider signing up for a PIN.

    Security
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