Tax season comes with enough stress on its own. Now imagine opening a letter from the IRS telling you that someone tried to file a tax return using your Social Security Number, before you even had a chance to file your own.
That’s exactly what happened recently to the mother of one of our technicians. And when we asked around our own office about the fix we’re going to share below, the answers split almost exactly 50/50: half of our team already had it set up, and half had never heard of it.
If you’re in that second half, this one’s for you.
How the scam works
Tax identity fraud is simple, and that’s exactly why it’s so common. A criminal gets hold of your Social Security Number, often from one of the countless data breaches that have exposed personal information over the years. Then they file a tax return in your name early in the season, claiming a refund that gets routed to an account they control.
Most people don’t find out until it’s already happened. Either their real return gets rejected because “you” already filed, or a letter from the IRS shows up flagging the suspicious activity.
In our technician’s mom’s case, the first smart move was making sure the letter itself wasn’t a scam. Fake IRS letters are a trick of their own. She verified the case number directly with the IRS through official channels (not a phone number printed on the letter) and confirmed it was legitimate. Unfortunately, it was: someone really had attempted to file a return with her SSN.
That led to the obvious next question: how do you stop this from ever happening again?
The five-minute fix: an Identity Protection PIN
The answer is something the IRS now recommends for everyone, not just fraud victims: an Identity Protection PIN (IP PIN).
It’s a six-digit code tied to your Social Security Number. Once it’s in place, any tax return filed without that code gets rejected automatically, even if the person filing has your SSN. In other words, a stolen Social Security Number stops being enough to file a fraudulent return in your name.
Three things worth knowing up front: you do not have to be a victim to get one, the PIN resets every year, and the whole setup takes about five minutes.
How to protect yourself
Here’s the full process, start to finish:
- Go to the IRS website and search “Get an IP PIN.” Make sure you’re on the official IRS.gov site. Type the address yourself rather than clicking a link from an email or text.
- Sign in or create an account. The IRS will verify your identity as part of the process. That step exists to make sure a criminal can’t request a PIN in your name.
- Request your PIN and store it somewhere secure. A password manager is ideal. You’ll need the code when you file your taxes, so don’t lose track of it.
- Remember that it resets every year. You’ll use a fresh PIN each filing season, so plan to retrieve the new one before you file.
- If you get an IRS letter, verify before you panic. Confirm any case number directly with the IRS through official channels, never through contact info printed on a letter you weren’t expecting.
- Spread the word. Tell your family and your team. Like our office, odds are about half of them have never heard of this.
If you’ve been putting off anything related to identity protection, this is the easiest possible place to start. Set a reminder to take five minutes tomorrow and get it done.
At Vertical IT Solutions, keeping the businesses we serve informed about threats like this is part of how we approach Security Driven IT, because the best problems are the ones that never happen. If you’d like a quick read on where your business stands, take our free 60-second Security Score, or talk to our team anytime. We’re happy to help.
