Newspaper Page Text
PAGE 18, NOVEMBER 3, 2008, THE ISLANDER
Identity Theft and Your Tax Records
The IRS does not initiate
communication with taxpayers
through e-mail. Before identity
theft happens, safeguard your
information.
What do I do if the IRS con
tacts me because of a tax issue
that may have been created by
an identity theft?
If you receive a notice or let
ter in the mail from the IRS
that leads you to believe some
one may have used your Social
Security number fraudulently,
please respond immediately to
the name, address, and/or num
ber printed on the IRS notice.
Be alert to possible identity
theft if the IRS issued notice or
letter:
• states more than one tax
return was filed for you, or
• indicates you received
wages from an employer
unknown to you.
An identity thief might also
use your Social Security num
ber to file a tax return in order
to receive a refund. If the thief
files the tax return before you
do, the IRS will believe you
already filed and received your
refund if eligible.
If your Social Security num
ber is stolen, it may be used by
another individual to get a job.
That person’s employer would
report income earned to the IRS
using your Social Security num
ber, making it appear that you
did not report all of your income
on your tax return.
If you have previously been
in contact with the IRS and
have not achieved a resolution,
please contact the IRS Iden
tity Protection Specialized Unit,
toll-free at 1-800-908-4490.
What do I do if I have not
been contacted by IRS for a tax
issue but believe I am a victim
of identity theft?
If your tax records are not
currently affected by identity
theft, but you believe you may
be at risk due to a lost/sto
len purse or wallet, question
able credit card activity, credit
report, or other activity, you
need to provide the IRS with
proof of your identity.
You should submit a copy,
not the original documents,
of your valid Federal or State
issued identification, such as
a social security card, driver's
license, or passport, etc, along
with a copy of a police report
or Federal Trade Commission
Identity Theft Affidavit. If the
FTC Affidavit is not notarized,
a witness (non-relative) must
sign it.
Please send these docu
ments using one of the follow
ing options:
Mailing address:
Internal Revenue Service
P.O. Box 9039
Andover, MA 01810-0939
FAX: Note that this is not
a toll-free fax number - 1-978-
247-9965
For your convenience, Form
14026 is available as a cover
sheet for submitting your docu
mentation.
You may also contact the IRS
Identity Protection Specialized
Unit toll-free 1-800-908-4490
for guidance.
Hours of Operation: Mon
day — Friday, 8:00 a.m. — 8:00
p.m. your local time (Alaska &
Hawaii follow Pacific Time).
Additional IRS.gov resources
• How to report and iden
tify phishing, e-mail scams and
bogus IRS Web sites.
• If you are experiencing
economic harm or a systemic
problem, or are seeking help
in resolving tax problems that
have not been resolved through
normal channels, you may be
eligible for Taxpayer Advocate
Service assistance.
• If you do not prepare your
own return, be careful in choos
ing your tax preparer.
• Repository of IRS messag
es related to suspicious e-mails
and identity theft
Remember:
The IRS does not initiate
communication with taxpayers
through e-mail.
For more information visit,
www.irs.gov. □
How to Report and Identify Phishing, E-mail Scams and Bogus IRS Web Sites
The IRS does not initiate
taxpayer communications
through e-mail.
• The IRS does not request
detailed personal information
through e-mail.
• The IRS does not send
e-mail requesting your PIN
numbers, passwords or similar
access information for credit
cards, banks or other financial
accounts.
If you receive an e-mail from
someone claiming to be the IRS
or directing you to an IRS site,
• Do not reply.
• Do not open any attach
ments. Attachments may con
tain malicious code that will
infect your computer.
• Do not click on any links.
If you clicked on links in a sus
picious e-mail or phishing Web
site and entered confidential
information, visit our Identity
Theft page.
How to report phishing,
Jan G. Rossiter, DVM
ISLAND ANIMAL
HOSPITAL
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e-mail scams and bogus
IRS Web sites
If you receive an e-mail or
find a Web site you think is
pretending to be the IRS,
• Forward the e-mail or Web
site URL to the IRS at phish-
ing@irs.gov.
• You can forward the mes
sage as received or provide the
Internet header of the e-mail.
The Internet header has addi
tional information to help us
locate the sender.
• After you forward the e-
mail or header information to
us, delete the message.
How to identify phishing
e-mail scams and bogus
IRS Web sites
• Sample of phishing e-
mails
- First sample of an actual
phishing e-mail - http://www.
irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/phishing_
email.pdf
- Second sample of an actual
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phishing e-mail - http://www.
irs.gov/pub/irs-utl/phishing_
email2.pdf
• All IRS.gov Web page
addresses begin with, http://
www.irs.gov/
- Is it a phishing Web site?
- http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-
uthaddress_bar.pdf
• Are you a victim of Iden
tity Theft?
Contact the Federal
Trade Commission at 1-877-
IDTHEFT (438-4338)
- Visit the IRS Identity Theft
resource page
You may also report misuse
of the IRS name, logo, forms
or other IRS property to the
Treasury Inspector General for
Tax Administration toll-free at
1-800-366-4484.
For more information visit,
www.irs.gov. □
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