The IRS issued a warning to small businesses to be wary against increased identity theft attempts as the IRS identifies an increase in the number of fraudulent business tax form filings.
According to the IRS, identity thieves for a long time have used stolen Employer Identification Numbers to create fake Forms W-2 that have been filed with fraudulent individual tax returns. The thieves also used EINs to open lines of credit and get credit cards. Now, thieves are expanding into filing fraudulent business tax returns.
Employers should look for the following warning signs of identity theft:
Any of these signs should raise a red flag for the employer to investigate.