How IRS Protects Taxpayers and Helps Victims of Identity Theft Global Identity Summit September 16, 2014
Identity theft (IDT) is a serious threat Federal Trade Commission hears from more than 20,000 consumers per week whose identities have been stolen Repercussions from identity theft are far-reaching; can include tax-related issues Stopping identity theft and refund fraud is a top priority for the IRS. The agency s work on identity theft and refund fraud continues to grow The IRS has a multi-pronged ID theft strategy: detection, prevention, victim assistance and enforcement 1
We re working on expanding our types of defenses, especially authentication and prevention Identity Theft Strategy: Approaches Working with victim to remediate their account, and with law enforcement and financial institutions to recover erroneously-sent refunds Preventing Deterring and/or blocking the filing of multiple bad returns (e.g., by detecting abnormal filing patterns) Remediating Authenticating Requiring the submitter of a return to validate his/her identity Varying our internal process to proportion taxpayer burden according to the suspiciousness of the return Treating Matching Modeling Using a statistical approach to predict likely, but not certain, ID theft cases Calibrating risk based on documents submitted by information reporters or other data sources (not the TP) 2
Identity Theft Detection - Pre and Post Refund Modeling/Filters: Increase revenue protection by applying filters to identify fraudulent and noncompliant returns in a pre-refund environment while providing refunds to compliant taxpayers timely Prevent fraudulent returns from posting before they can have any negative effect on taxpayers accounts Remediating/Partnerships: External Leads Partnership with external organizations (e.g. banks) to recover questionable refunds 3
Revenue Protection Since 2011, IRS RICS programs has stopped more than $52 billion in refunds In addition, we ve recovered more than $2 billion from external leads 4
Identity Protection PIN (IP PIN) IP PIN is a six-digit number assigned annually to eligible taxpayers to help prevent the misuse of their Social Security Number on fraudulent federal income tax returns IP PIN helps the IRS verify a taxpayer s identity by matching the IP PIN on the tax return against the IP PIN generated by and stored on Master File If a return is e-filed with an incorrect or missing IP PIN, IRS system will reject it. If the same conditions occur on a paper filed return, IRS will delay its processing until validated 5
Identity Protection PIN (IP PIN) January 2011, IRS launched the IP PIN to 56,000 validated identity theft victims. More than 1.2 million IP PINs were issued this year. 2014 IP PIN pilot program / e-authentication: Voluntary program for Florida, Georgia and D.C. taxpayers to opt-in to IP PIN Must access through e-file PIN via IRS.gov application to get the offer Required online registration and identity validation through e-authentication Replace lost IP PIN: IRS.gov: www.irs.gov/getanippin to retrieve original IP PIN; IPSU (800-908-4490 ext. 245) for a replacement* IP PIN *Allows e-file but subjects the return to additional manual review 6
The Identity Protection Specialized Unit (IPSU) The IPSU provides taxpayers with a single point of contact within the IRS via a special Toll-Free telephone number Because of the uniqueness and variety of IDT case types, the IRS established several specialized groups to assist with processing IDT cases. The mission of these groups is to handle IDT cases efficiently and consistently While the IPSU provides a single point of contact for victims, consistency in procedures has sometimes been a challenge with specialized groups spread across multiple IRS business functions To improve consistency and efficiency, IRS recently launched an effort to bring all IDT case work and policy under a single function Accounts Management 7
Addressing business identity theft Business identity theft: Creating, using or attempting to use business identifying information without authority to obtain tax benefits New IRS program guidance focuses on research, identification, tracking and victim assistance Initial steps for victims: Report to local law enforcement Contact major business credit bureaus Contact all credit card companies, financial institutions and other creditors Respond to IRS notices immediately 8
Mitigating online fraud IRS Office of Online Fraud Detection and Prevention (OFDP) investigates sites that purport to be the IRS, use its logos, etc. Works to mitigate risks to taxpayers On a high-volume day, IRS receives up to 3 million potential leads through phishing@irs.gov and our data feeds IRS Office of Online Fraud Detection and Prevention collaborates with other federal/law enforcement agencies In 2013, OFDP helped stop a $160 million advance-fee scheme involving criminals around the globe 9
Most significant challenges Getting ahead and staying ahead requires an investment Data breaches and data vulnerability Improving identity protection through robust authentication 10
Find more at IRS.gov General identity theft info at www.irs.gov/identitytheft, including Taxpayer Guide to Identity Theft IP PIN info at www.irs.gov/uac/the-identity- Protection-PIN-IP-PIN (general info, IP PIN pilot, FAQs and online tool to replace an IP PIN) 11