I've just found out my mom's tax return was hacked. Working on fixing that. Anyone else experience this?

I was hacked several years ago and had to get a pin from the IRS. They also recommend putting in an alert, or even a freeze, to all the credit agencies. It's free for I think a year of you've been affected by IRS fraud. It's also wise to file as early as possible every every year even if no taxes are owed. That way, if a fraudster tries to file they'll get blocked.

Imho, others here have answered the hack situation. I'll respond to your question of obtaining a valid photo ID only from the Motor Vehicle Administration. Yes, it is a good idea to obtain this. My late legally blind mother had let her's lapse and it was almost a problem for me - (and knowing that you already have POA) when we went to the Notary Public with the Power of Attorney doc that I had filled out, mother went to pull out her photo ID and oops - expired ! - luckily the Notary Public was a friend and let my mother use her COB ID - BUT he wasn't supposed to do so and could have gotten in trouble.

Everyone needs to create an account with the SSA so that no one can impersonate them. Also, freeze your accounts at the credit reporting agencies so no one can open a loan in your name. It's now free to freeze and unfreeze them if you are applying for a loan yourself. Worth that tiny bit of hassle.

I am a little more concerned about the crime. Please file with the local police. Most likely the "hacker" is somebody online, but you can not rule out somebody that your mom comes into contact with. Reporting the crime clues the police into finding a local suspect.

Reason, I'm so sorry to learn of this unsettling situation.  

I think something with her signature might help so it can be compared against the hacker's signature.   Perhaps just the signature portions of past returns might be appropriate?

If you have the time, would you mind sharing how you discovered this?   And similar details to help others here who might be concerned about a similar hack?

E.g., had your mother actually filed a return, and if so, was it done by an agency?Was it sent regular, certified or by overnight mail?

How did you find out it was hacked?   

Have any other accounts of hers been hacked as well?    Is the IRS taking action against the hacker?

Any information you can share would I suspect be helpful to the rest of us, certainly to me as hacking is always a concern.

I hope you're able to successfully resolve this, and that the IRS is able to locate the hacker and take appropriate action.

Thanks, all, for your answers! You've lowered my blood pressure a lot!! Stay safe and well.

Make sure that it doesn’t cause her stimulus payment to get hijacked too!

We have an id PIN to use with mthr. Since she was the victim of financial abuse before we rescued her, our CPA said that was the first step to secure any refunds. It's sent to her every year, and since we have a PO box for her, it's completely secure.

If IRS is like SS you being her POA may not mean a thing. But send it.
Attach a letter explaining that you are her rep. That she has been diagnosed with Dementia and is living in an ALF. And how you can be contacted. A cover letter explaing the situation.

You may want to find out if Mom still needs to file. My Mom received SS, $1500, and a small pension, $200. Which gave her about 20k a year in income. Since most of her income was from SS, she no longer had to file.
And she fell under the income limit allowed. She had no investments. Her AL was being paid from savings.

This happened to my husband several years ago. It was fairly easy to fix and the IRS has supplied him with an identification PIN each year since.