Following are some preventive measures to help keep your identity safe:

Individual Preventive Measures

• Truncate Social Security numbers (SSNs) where possible or mask them on insurance cards.
• Monitor credit reports at least annually.
  Contact details for the fraud departments of the three major credit bureaus are:
  Equifax-Equifax.com, 1-800-525-62851-800-680-7289
  Experian- Experian.com, 1-888-397-3742
  TransUnion – Transunion.com, 1-800-680-7289
• Forward any IRS notices immediately to your CPA immediately.
• Keep Social Security cards and financial information in a secure location and properly dispose of documents with SSNs or account numbers.
• Give out an SSN, birthdate, or address only if required.
• Buy and use a shredder.
• Protect personal computers with firewalls, anti-spam, or anti-virus software; regularly change passwords; and password-secure wireless connections.
• Be mindful of the personal information divulged on social media, as hackers are getting increasingly sophisticated.

Business Preventive Measures

• Use anti-virus and other security software on all office computers and update data-security policies.
• Educate employees about phishing (attempts by fraudsters to acquire information via electronic communications by posing as a legitimate entity).
• Remind employees not to open links or attachments from emails they were not expecting to receive.
• Update business filings with the IRS and with state business registries as soon as any contact information changes.
• Monitor the business’s credit profile at least annually.
• If possible, consider filing business tax returns earlier in tax season.
• Forward phishing emails purported to be from the IRS per the forwarding instructions on the IRS website.