Safeguard your tax return

PORTSMOUTH, Va. - For many people, tax time means a big tax refund. But for others, it's a big opportunity to steal your money. We're talking about identity theft.

So how can you protect your tax refund? WAVY.com investigates.

Darius Mitchell just wrapped up filing his 2008, but says he worries about others getting his money.

He told us, "Especially in today's economy with everything that is going on. Everybody says recession, I hear depression. Anybody is going to try to do anything that they can to get extra money, lie, steal, cheat."

For Mitchell, a past experience has him filing with a tax service electronically.

"I think somebody did mess with my mailbox. As I was coming up to my driveway there was mail on the grass, it was our return," explained Mitchell.

Ethel Breland with Jackson Hewitt Tax Service warns of receiving your tax returns by mail.

She said, "A lot of their personal information is on that tax return, multi-levels of social security numbers, theirs,their spouses, their childrens. So there is a lot of data."

And for those of you who do your taxes on your own computers Breland says "you definitely need to safeguard it with some type of firewall...."

As for Mitchell, he recommends you got to your tax preparer to pick up your check.