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Cyber Risks · Krebs on Security

IRS to Make ID Protection PIN Open to All

Summary: The IRS said this week that starting in 2021 it will let all taxpayers apply for an identity protection personal identification number (IP PIN), a six-digit, single-use code valid only for the tax year it was issued, which blocks identity thieves from filing a fraudulent return in a taxpayer's name. Until now the IRS issued IP PINs only to those who filed an ID theft affidavit or had previously experienced refund fraud, and it says the Get IP PIN tool will open to all taxpayers in mid-January.

What you should know: Refund fraud persists because the IRS is under pressure to issue refunds quickly and to minimize false positives, so victims often learn of the crime only when their own returns are rejected because a scammer filed first. The opt-in requires passing secure access authentication, which rejects VoIP numbers and, as commenters describe, can fail when a mobile account address does not match the address on the last tax filing.

Read the original at Krebs on Security ↗

Topics
Fraud & Scams
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