This is the third in a series of best practices reminding taxpayers to protect themselves from scammers, hackers and identity thieves.
Best Practices #3: Use Stronger Passwords. Use passwords of eight or more characters, mixing letters, numbers and special characters. Do not use your name, birthdate, common words such as “password” or your spouse of children’s names. Don’t use the same password for several accounts. Keep your password list in a secure place or use a password manager. Don’t share passwords with anyone. Calls, texts or emails pretending to be from legitimate companies or the IRS asking to update accounts, seeking personal financial information or threats of liens or jail time if you don’t provide certain information are almost always scams.