Tell the Tax Board About Identity Fraud

In “It’s Known as Identity Fraud, but by Any Name It’s an Ugly Crime” (Aug. 25), the Federal Trade Commission sets forth tips for preventing identity fraud, among them not giving out your Social Security number.

But California’s Franchise Tax Board includes the recipient’s Social Security number on the mailing label when it sends out tax forms. When I wrote requesting that my Social Security number be removed from the label, I was informed that they could not do so, but that I could write requesting that no tax forms be sent to our home. We would then have to go to whatever location in our local area that stocks the tax forms we need to submit the required tax returns.

Now, just how important is it to keep one’s Social Security number out of the public domain?

AUDREY H. BAILEY

Rialto