We previously advised all of our users to claim their identity with the IRS by registering for an account on IRS.gov. Since then, the IRS has revealed that the number of identities stolen by creating fraudulent accounts was more than double what they originally revealed. They have also temporarily shut down the ability to request an online transcript (which is what the thieves were using stolen accounts for).

Today a new warning and another place where you need to immediately go and create an account in order to claim your own identity and ensure the bad guys don’t get it first.

http://www.ssa.gov/myaccount/

The issue stems from the fact that thieves can create accounts at these sites by answering some basic personal questions with answers that can often be found from other sources such as social media. By creating your account first and then associating a LONG SECURE password with it, you make it significantly more difficult for them to steal your identity on the site.