The tax filing deadline is tomorrow.  Identity thieves are counting on people being in a hurry and focused on things other than identity theft prevention. 

Here are some tips to protect your personal information and your credit:

1) Keep your personal and tax information locked up.  Whether at home or the office, do not leave a pile of tax documents out in plain sight.  Your W-2 or 1099 have your social security number on it, as do any year-end interest and dividend statements from banks and financial institutions.

2) When taking tax documents anywhere, keep them with you.  Do not leave your briefcase or file folders in your vehicle in plain sight.  At the very least lock them in your trunk.  Carrying them with you may seem inconvenient, however dealing with identity theft is truly a time consuming inconvenience.

3) Keep all of your computer security updated; this includes your firewall, anti-spyware and anti-virus programs.  Many people store sensitive and tax data on their home computers thereby making computer security a priority.  When you electronically file your taxes, be sure to use a strong, distinct password – NOT your usual password that you use on all your other accounts.  After your return is sent, you may want to store the tax file on a CD or flash drive that you can lock up rather than leaving all of that information on the computer.

4) Ask your tax preparer how your tax information will be stored and how many people have access to it.  If stored electronically, will it be encrypted?  You have a right to ask these questions to safeguard your information.

5) Place ALL outgoing mail in a secure locked box.  Take tax documents directly to a post office and place them in the indoor mail slot.  At the very least use an official blue USPS mailbox toward the end of the day right before the last pickup so your info is not sitting there for very long. 

6) After your taxes are filed, shred any statements or paperwork you do not need to keep.  Store tax returns in a sturdy safe or in a locked file cabinet along with other sensitive documents.  Most people have the required seven year’s worth of tax returns on hand and ID thieves know it, so keep them locked up and hard to get to.  Consider using a different label on the box as a distraction: pet records (whether you have a pet or not), farm equipment (whether you have a farm or not), dental records….you get the picture – something an identity thief won’t look twice at.

7) Beware of email scams which tend to increase at tax time.  If you receive any emails wanting your social security number or other financial information, you should send it to the Federal Trade Commission at spam@uce.gov so they can investigate it.  Remember that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) does not send email notifications for electronic audits or refunds.  If something that says it is from the IRS seems suspicious, call the IRS Taxpayers Advocate line at 877-777-4778.

Use these tips to make tax time less likely to become ID theft time. 

Complete Credit Services is proud to provide credit education and to be a source of accurate information to help people understand their credit reports and scores. 

We offer a Credit Check-Up for specific recommendations based on your personal credit report.  You can contact us for your Credit Check-Up that includes a complete credit report review along with information on how to build your credit scores using the five parts of the credit scoring formula for only $100.

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