Weeks ago, I mailed off our tax returns to the IRS and our state department of revenue. I sent everything via certified mail for tracking information. I tracked that all but 1 had reached its destination.
Hoping it was a glitch that the last item actually reached its destination but the USPS website just didn't get updated, I called our state department of revenue to look-up if our filings were received. As of this morning, no 2023 record of returns was found. I was given the recommendation to drive to the nearest local office and hand deliver a copy of my return to satisfy timely filing requirements, and I did.
So that matter is resolved but a new matter emerges: The possibly lost packet of information is a goldmine of data for a would-be thief. Name, address, phone numbers, signatures, bank routing information, SSNs, attached W-2s... all the good stuff. And while I have started a service request with the postal service to track the document and they *could* still locate it, I'm not optimistic. I am already considering that this data is compromised.
The "good" news is I already considered such data compromised. I have had security freezes in place with the credit reporting bureaus in place for years for my household. The bank account used in the return should be "isolated" in the sense that it does not automatically overdraft or transfer funds between it and any other account, and only a minimal amount is maintained in that particular account.
But with that type of information in hand, someone could potentially discern which institutions I use, spoof my number, call the bank, and use the details other than my username and password to get in. Yes, I understand that takes a lot of effort, and the common thief might not bother. But this makes me wonder:
Do financial institutions offer anything like fraud alerts similar to what the credit bureaus use? Or any other features to prevent fraud, like "no money out" orders on the brokerage accounts, etc. I've done the latter before, years ago, and found that it was mildly irritating when I needed to move money legitimately between accounts. But, I can consider doing so again since my net worth has grown since then.
Any suggested terms I should use when I call my main financial institutions?
Hoping it was a glitch that the last item actually reached its destination but the USPS website just didn't get updated, I called our state department of revenue to look-up if our filings were received. As of this morning, no 2023 record of returns was found. I was given the recommendation to drive to the nearest local office and hand deliver a copy of my return to satisfy timely filing requirements, and I did.
So that matter is resolved but a new matter emerges: The possibly lost packet of information is a goldmine of data for a would-be thief. Name, address, phone numbers, signatures, bank routing information, SSNs, attached W-2s... all the good stuff. And while I have started a service request with the postal service to track the document and they *could* still locate it, I'm not optimistic. I am already considering that this data is compromised.
The "good" news is I already considered such data compromised. I have had security freezes in place with the credit reporting bureaus in place for years for my household. The bank account used in the return should be "isolated" in the sense that it does not automatically overdraft or transfer funds between it and any other account, and only a minimal amount is maintained in that particular account.
But with that type of information in hand, someone could potentially discern which institutions I use, spoof my number, call the bank, and use the details other than my username and password to get in. Yes, I understand that takes a lot of effort, and the common thief might not bother. But this makes me wonder:
Do financial institutions offer anything like fraud alerts similar to what the credit bureaus use? Or any other features to prevent fraud, like "no money out" orders on the brokerage accounts, etc. I've done the latter before, years ago, and found that it was mildly irritating when I needed to move money legitimately between accounts. But, I can consider doing so again since my net worth has grown since then.
Any suggested terms I should use when I call my main financial institutions?
Statistics: Posted by I_Am_Not_A_Doctor — Thu Apr 11, 2024 12:42 pm — Replies 0 — Views 84