Thieves preying on tax returns, IRS says

NEWS Observer ^ | DONNA GEHRKE-WHITE

[SoFloFreeper]

- If you haven't filed your tax return yet, someone may have filed it for you.

The federal government has stepped up efforts to get between identity thieves and their latest targets: fat tax refunds.

Last week, the Internal Revenue Service announced that 105 people in 23 states had been targeted as part of a national identity theft crackdown involving the potential theft of thousands of identities and taxpayer refunds.

At one IRS office in Florida, at least a dozen tax filers said they spent hours in line to report someone had already filed their returns - with the tax season just weeks old.

[SoFloFreeper]

I saw some television coverage of these "taxpayers" who had their identity stolen....my guess is their earned income credit was claimed, because the level of education they exhibited while yelling at the IRS office was something you'd hear on a middle school playground.

Just sayin'....

[ElkGroveDan]

I sure hope someone else files ours.

[plangent]

Last May there was a report of a mailman in Miami murdered so thieves could steal his “STAR” Key, a master key to open mailboxes in Condos on his route.

http://www.nbcmiami.com/news/local/Two-Arrested-for-Mailmans-Murder-121341934.html

The object was to rifle through Seniors mailboxes, get social security numbers and then file bogus IRS Mega refund claims with the checks sent to a different address. Weeks, months later, the ID victims find out too late: checks cashed: theives gone.

What a racket.

[ZX12R]

This happened to me and my wife this year. Never had any problem before. Return was rejected because my wife’s social security number had already been used. It will probably take months to get our return now.

[pgkdan]

- If you haven't filed your tax return yet, someone may have filed it for you.

Well if so then I certainly hope they send in the check too!

[mo]

move along...move along...just Holder’s people rustlin’ up cash for ‘Bammy’s re-election...

[Graybeard58]

Return was rejected because my wife’s social security number had already been used.

Check and recheck the number you wrote down, then let your wife check it. Mine was rejected once last year for a simple typo that I failed to see even when I rechecked once.

I got the same notice, that the number had already been used. When I finally caught the typo, everything went smoothly.

[TheOldLady]

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[ZX12R]

Check and recheck the number you wrote down, then let your wife check it. Mine was rejected once last year for a simple typo that I failed to see even when I rechecked once.

I appreciate the suggestion very much, but this is confirmed. It was my wife's social security number that got it rejected. My wife has been in contact with the IRS, credit reporting agencies, and county sheriff's office. She had to put together a photo copy of her social security card, the business card from the officer with the case number, our tax return and some others stuff. What I'm hoping, is that someone else made a simple error with THEIR social security number, and not actually an identity theft thing.