Your next worry after the Equifax breach: Fake tax returns

https://www.cnbc.com/2017/09/18/your-next-worry-after-the-equifax-breach-fake-tax-returns.html

After the Equifax data breach, year-end tax planning may be even more important.

Social Security numbers were among the data exposed in the Equifax hack, which affects up to 143 million people. Immediate to-dos have focused on fraud alerts, credit freezes and monitoring to curtail thieves' ability to open new accounts in victims' names. But experts say consumers should also start thinking ahead to tax season — when criminals could potentially use those stolen Social Security numbers to file fraudulent tax returns and snare refunds.

"This is going to be an ongoing problem," said Tim Gagnon, an associate teaching professor of accounting at Northeastern University's D'Amore-McKim School of Business.

Having a credit freeze or other monitoring in place doesn't prevent tax-related identity theft, which is among the top scams on the IRS "Dirty Dozen" list. The agency estimates that during the first nine months of 2016, beefed up safeguards helped it stop 787,000 fraudulent returns totaling more than $4 billion — but it still paid out $239 million in "suspect" refunds.