Your tax return is a ripe target for fraud. Here’s how to protect it

A new year means another tax season—and all the associated headaches. Not just navigating the byzantine maze of US tax code, but dodging related scams, too.

One particular tax scam is especially thorny since it can happen right under your nose. In an attempt to collect a refund, a fraudster files a tax return in your name. But you won’t know it until you go to file yourself and discover a mess to untangle. The risk of this happening is higher in 2025 too after last year’s repeated data breaches. At this point, most everyone’s personal information (including social security numbers) is findable somewhere on the dark web.

Fortunately, the IRS makes this kind of scam easy to block. On the agency’s website, you can request an identity protection PIN, a six-digit numeric string that you must add to your filing. It identifies your tax return as the legitimate one—if a filing lacks the PIN, it won’t count. 

Previously, this program was only available to victims of identity theft, either by request or decision of the IRS. Now all taxpayers can voluntarily opt into the program.

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To sign up, head to the IRS website. The quickest method for verification is through the government’s ID.me service, but you can also do so through mail or an in-person appointment. The online process takes about 15-20 minutes. 

Identity protection PINs are good for only one year and can’t be reused. (A smart system, so that if a number is ever stolen or compromised after use, you’re not vulnerable to fraud again.) When voluntarily enrolling, you can choose to receive a PIN on a continual basis or just one time only. Most people will be best off automatically having the IRS send a new PIN each year—less to think about during an already hectic period. You can use your ID.me login to look up your PIN.

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(Speaking of logins, if you’re not already doing so, a password manager is a secure way to create and keep track of your credentials. You definitely want a unique, strong password for locking down this government account.)

You can get more details about how the identity protection PIN program works through IRS’s FAQ page, but overall, it’s a fairly straightforward system. That’s a good thing, too, given how much of a general pain US tax returns are.