If I lost an unsecured USB device containing my tax returns, in a public place, what should I do to protect my, and my spouse's, identities and security?

[fanfare]

You will have to hope the person who finds it is not dishonest.
They might even return it to you.

[Opus 17]

You can also file a form 14039-T identity theft affidavit for each person.  The IRS might not accept it without proof that your identity was actually misused (instead of just lost).  But if they do accept it, they will issue a 6-digit identity protection PIN and then no one (including you) can file a tax return in your name without the IP-PIN.

[Opus 17]

A federal law allows you to get a free credit report from each of the 3 bureaus once a year.  This is the only authorized free credit report site.  <a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action">https://www.annualcreditreport.com/index.action</a>. You can get one report from each bureau, if you stagger the reports and get a different one every 4 months, then you get almost year round monitoring for any strange or unauthorized activity.

Other sites (including the credit bureaus) may try to sell you additional services or may use your personal information to send you targeted advertisements.  You can use them but buyer beware.

And of course, there are commercial identity protection services you can subscribe to for a couple of years, I can't recommend any specific company over any other company.

[mesquitebean]

You may wish to put extra security on any bank accounts, etc.  Your return info may have bank account info so you may wish to notify your bank to see how they can tighten up your account with additional secret words/passwords, two-step verifcation, etc, or even change the account number if they think you should.

[Opus 17]

If the tax return contained direct deposit information (your bank account number and routing number, or the account number and routing number for a pre-paid debit card) you should contact the bank or card issuer to change the account number.  I don't know that you need to change other accounts that were not included.

Certainly, you can contact all your banks and credit cards and set up account alerts to text or send emails for certain actions (such as, card not present purchase, purchase over a certain $$ amount, foreign purchase, etc.).  Naturally you will get some alerts for your own activities like Amazon.com purchases and so on.

[Opus 17 · Accepted solution]

Some things you can do are:

Register for an account at social security for each person whose ssn was lost, to keep someone else from registering you.  Likewise register for accounts at the IRS web site.  

Lock or freeze your credit reports.  This will prevent anyone from opening accounts (including you, but you can temporarily unlock your reports to apply for new credit.  A “freeze” is a federally regulated procedure but the big 3 now allow you to do a “lock/unlock” for free, although they will try to sell you credit monitoring.  

See if any of your credit cards give you a credit score or credit reports as a card member benefit.  Consider signing up for a free credit monitoring service like Turbo or Credit Karma (they will use your info to market to you) or possibly enroll in a paid service that might not market to you.

[san202]

I am literally in the same position now, what was your conclusion and the final story? What were the steps that you took to make sure that you are protected? I lost the USB today and it was not secured and it's my tax returns for printing purposes. I hope to hear from you. 

[CatinaT1]

I would set up an IRS Individual Online Account.

Taxpayers with a Social Security number or an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number can create or access their IRS Individual Online Account to get information they need to file their return.  

With an IRS Individual Online Account, people can: 

• View balance owed, payment history and schedule payments. 
• Cancel scheduled payments – new feature for 2024. 
• Get transcripts. 
• View or create payment plans. 
• See digital copies of some IRS notices. 
• View key data from their most recently filed tax return, including adjusted gross income. 
• Validate bank accounts and save multiple accounts, eliminating the need to re-enter bank account information every time they make a payment. 
• View, approve and electronically sign power of attorney and tax information authorizations from their tax professional.  

I would also request an Identity Protection PIN.

An Identity Protection (IP) PIN is a six-digit number that prevents someone else from filing a tax return using a taxpayer’s Social Security number or Individual Taxpayer Identification Number. The IP PIN is known only to the taxpayer and the IRS. It helps the IRS verify the taxpayer’s identity when they file an electronic or paper tax return. 

The fastest way to receive an IP PIN is to use the online Get an IP PIN tool which will be available Jan. 8 through mid-November. Taxpayers that want an IP PIN and do not already have an Individual Online Account on IRS.gov, must register to confirm their identity. 

More information can be found here: 

Identity Theft Guide 

[san202]

Thank you so much for the reply.  I already have an account with the IRS and I am trying to speak to someone right now on the phone, to report this incident and see if there is anything else they may advise me. I will definitely make sure to get the IP PIN as well

This has been a little scary, but today I am taking safety measures. I am always very careful with my personal information on all of my devices with extra protection and then one day I just loose my USB just like that. So far I have frozen all of my credits with Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Changed my account and routing number that is listed on my Tax Return transcript. Anything else that you think I should do to make sure I am protected from theft? Can they open some sort of online health or medical benefits?

Thank you so much for your help, I truly appreciate it.