2. Today’s Speakers Lisa Weintraub Schifferle Mark Fetterhoff Attorney
Federal Trade Commission (FTC)
Michael Delgado
Assistant Inspector General for Investigations
Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration (TIGTA)
Mark Fetterhoff
Senior Program Specialist
AARP Foundation

3. Overview What is identity theft? What is tax identity theft?
How does tax identity theft happen?
How to reduce your chance of being a victim
What to do if you’re a victim
IRS Imposter Scams

4. What Is
Identity Theft?

5. Definition of Identity Theft
Identity theft is the misuse of another’s personal information to:
fraudulently obtain goods or services OR
hide from government, law enforcement, or others who perform background checks

6. 17.6 million identity theft victims in 2014 (7% of US population)*
Nearly 400,000 complaints to the FTC in 2016.
*U.S. Dept. of Justice, Bureau of Justice Statistics, Victims of Identity Theft, 2014 (September 2015)

7. Examples of Misuse Impact on Victims Open Credit Cards
Open Utility Accounts
Apply for a Tax Refund
Get a Loan
Apply for Employment
Get Medical Care
Denial of credit/loans
Denial of public benefits
Denial of medical care
Denial/loss of employment
Harassment by debt collectors
Legal issues/arrest
Stress/anxiety
Recovery time/expense

8. What Is
Tax Identity Theft?

9. What Is Tax Identity Theft?
Filing a fraudulent tax return using another person’s Social Security number
Claiming someone else’s children as dependents
Claiming a tax refund using a deceased taxpayer’s information
Earning wages under another person’s Social Security number

10. Identity Theft Complaint Trends
2013
2014
2015
2016
Total Number of Identity Theft Complaints
290,102
332,647
490,220
399,225

11. Scope of the Tax ID Theft Problem
FTC statistics:
2016:
34% of all identity theft complaints pertained to taxes or wages
2015:
45% of all identity theft complaints pertained to taxes or wages
2014:
33% of all identity theft complaints pertained to taxes or wages

12. How Victims’ Information is Misused
Consumer Sentinel Data, 2016

13. IRS Imposter Scams – FTC Stats
,185
,343
,371
,943

14. IRS Imposter Scams

15. Drop in Gov’t Imposter Scams

16. How Does
Tax Identity Theft
Happen?

17. How Does Tax Identity Theft Happen?
Lost or stolen wallets, Medicare cards, smartphones
Theft by family, friends, visitors, advisors
Dumpster diving
Stolen mail or tax returns
Imposter scams
Corrupt insiders
Corrupt tax preparation services

18. How Does Tax Identity Theft Happen Online?
Data breaches
Phony s from imposters
Unsecure Wi-Fi hotspots
Peer-to-peer file sharing
Downloading software or apps from unknown sources

19. Warnings Signs of Possible Tax Identity Theft
Social Security number is lost, stolen, or compromised
Unusual delay in getting a refund
IRS notification:
duplicate tax return filing
unreported income
duplicate dependents

20. How To Lessen Your Chance of Being a Victim

21. Reducing the Risk of Identity Theft
Protect what you have
Minimize personal information in wallets or on smartphones
Keep personal information secure - locked
Be careful what you share
Don’t give info unless you know who’s asking and why
Don’t click on links sent in unsolicited
Monitor
Review mail and financial statements
Annualcreditreport.com
Dispose properly
Shred

22. Preparing and Filing Tax Returns
Who?
Know your tax preparer
When?
Mail tax returns as early in the tax season as possible
How?
If mailing, do not put tax returns in outgoing mail; mail tax returns directly from post office
If filing electronically, use a secure network
How you file, store returns securely and shred drafts

23. Additional Advice for Older Americans
Protect Medicare card number, which might be SSN
Protect personal information at home like you would cash or jewelry
Make sure to open and review your mail and
Ask medical and care facilities about their data protection policies
Select assistants and other support professionals with care

24. AARP Foundation Tax-Aide
aarpfoundation.org/TaxAide
aarp.org/FindTaxHelp

25. aarp.org/FraudWatchNetwork

26. If you or someone you know has been a victim of fraud, contact:

27. What to Do If You’re a Victim

36. For victims of tax-related identity theft, the system also will create this IRS Form – the IRS Identity Theft Affidavit – and pre-fill it with information the consumer has supplied. The consumer can then print it out, complete the form, and send it to the IRS to start getting the tax identity theft resolved.

37. Identity Theft
Free print materials to order:

38. IRS Imposter Scams

39. What are IRS Imposter Scams?
Scammers posing as the IRS call and say you owe taxes
They might also:
Threaten to arrest or deport you if you don’t pay
Know all or part of your SSN

40. What are IRS Imposter Scams? (continued)
They might also:
Rig caller ID to make it look like call is from DC (202 area code) so you think it is the IRS
Demand immediate payment by pre-paid debit card or wire transfer
Send bogus IRS s to further the scheme

41. IRS Imposter Scams – Who is Affected?
Largest telephone scam in TIGTA’s history
More than 1,800,000 contacts across the US
$53 M paid to scammers by victims
Top 5 states* affected (by dollar loss):
1. California Illinois
2. New York Florida
3. Texas
*As of December 2016

42. IRS Imposter Scams- Who is Affected?

43. IRS Imposter Scams – What You Need to Know
The IRS will not ask you to pay with prepaid debit cards or wire transfers
The IRS will not ask for a credit card number over the phone
The IRS will not threaten arrest, deportation or loss of your drivers license
The IRS will not send you s

44. IRS Imposter Scams – What You Need to Know (continued)
If the IRS needs to contact you, they will generally first do it by mail
If you have any doubts, call the IRS directly at

45. Report IRS Imposter Scams
TIGTA = Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration
tigta.gov
FTC
ftc.gov/complaint
877-FTC-HELP

46. Report IRS Imposter Scams
Your reported information helps combat the Scams:
TIGTA and DHS are working with the telephone industry to block identified scammer calls;
Identified scammer telephone numbers are targeted with calls advising that their activity is illegal;

47. Report IRS Imposter Scams
Your reported information also helps combat the Scams by:
Identifying the victim population segments for public education about the scams;
TIGTA and Apple Inc. created Public Service Announcements to play in popular stores in the top States affected by the Scams.

48. Questions?