NEW YORK, April 17, 2008 — Tens of millions of tax returns have just been filed electronically for the tax year 2007. Anyone who has filed their taxes this way and has their personal information stored unprotected on their computer is vulnerable to the ever-growing threat of identity theft. Stored tax documents are a gold mine for hackers and thieves as every single tax return contains at least one person’s social security number.
-- Over 8 million Americans have their identities stolen each year. -- The FTC reported that in 2007 the #1 category of complaint (32% of total complaints received) was identity theft. -- Consumers reported 2007 fraud losses totaling more than $1.2 billion. -- The Associated Press recently reported: "Fraudulent tax returns filed as a result of identity theft jumped more than six fold over the past five years." -- According to IDC, it's projected that black market trafficking of stolen electronic identities will increase to $1.6 billion by the year 2010.
The makers of Identity Finder
(http://www.identityfinder.com), software designed
specifically to prevent electronic identity theft, offer
post tax season security tips to prevent identity theft:
1. When storing a copy of your tax return on your computer,
make sure you secure it with a password so that your SSN
cannot be read if the file is lost.
2. Securely delete all electronic, financial documents used
to prepare your tax returns so any personal information
is safe.
3. Ignore all refund/rebate/warning emails claiming to come
from the IRS and never click on links within those emails
because it is most likely a phishing attack.
4. Do not provide personal information to anyone calling you
claiming to be from the IRS; the IRS already has your
information and it's likely to be an identity thief
calling you.
5. Check your credit report with one of the three credit
bureaus for free every four months at
http://www.annualcreditreport.com to make sure your
identity hasn't already been stolen.
6. Install the latest updates to your operating system
so known Windows or Mac vulnerabilities can't be
exploited by hackers.
7. Don't save your password in your web browser when
accessing banks and other institutions that keep
your personal information because it could be leaked
if you ever get a virus, Trojan, or are hacked.
8. If you provided your bank account and routing information
to the IRS for payment or refunds, check your bank
accounts to ensure the proper transfer occurred.
9. Visit your bank account online and set up alerts on your
accounts to monitor when high amounts of cash are
withdrawn.
10. Make sure you do not receive incorrect payment
liability or refund information; a thief could have
filed a tax return on your behalf fraudulently. If you
suspect tax preparation fraud, call the State Tax
Department toll-free at 1-888-675-9437.
About:
Identity Finder Home and Professional Edition software searches through electronic files and e-mails for personal information – such as social security numbers, passwords, and credit card details – and helps users securely shred or encrypt the data. Identity Finder, LLC is a leading niche innovator of security and privacy technologies. Founded in 2001 and headquartered in New York City, the company specializes in developing software solutions that meet business and consumer needs. Best known for Identity Finder and Velosecure CAM, the company’s technologies have been used by thousands of organizations in more than 40 countries. The management team is a thought leader in the industry and has been internationally published.
Contact:
Fern Edison:
(845) 679-6319
http://www.identityfinder.com
