Scammers cashing in at tax time

• Place a free, 90-day fraud alert on your credit report. Go online to contact credit reporting agencies Experian, TransUnion and Equifax so that creditors will call to verify it is you before opening a new account in your name.

• Check your credit report for accuracy. Do this by going online to www.annualcreditreport.com.

• Encrypt documents you plan to e-mail to your accountant. Create strong, nonsensical passwords for your IRS W2 or 1099 forms.

• Install pop-up blocking software. That will help you avoid entering enter personal information onto illicit pop-up screens with a form and fill-in blanks for personal information.

• If you mail your tax return to the IRS, don’t let it sit in a mail box waiting for pickup. Instead, send it from the post office or official U.S. Postal Service collection box.

• If you make photocopies of financial documents, ensure the photocopier doesn’t store images of them in memory.

• Use a paper shredder to destroy documents no longer needed for tax preparation.

• Get a Federal Trade Commission report. Go to www.ftc.gov and file a report. If you ever have to prove yourself to a bank or creditor or debt collection agency, you’ll have this proof that you are a registered victim of identity theft.

Sources: Mike Prusinski, spokesman for LifeLock;

AVG, an Internet security company;

and Todd Feinman, CEO of Identity Finder

Identity theft complaints from Oklahoma

in 2008

theft reports

reports nationally in 2007-08 compared to 2006-07

Source: Consumer Sentinel Network