105 people were arrested for stealing identities and fraudulently claiming tax refunds

105 people were arrested for stealing identities and fraudulently claiming tax refunds (Alberta Times) The new tax filing season has begun. In order to deter criminals from using identity theft to defraud tax refunds, the IRS...

(Alberta Times)

The new tax filing season has begun. In order to deter criminals from using identity theft to defraud tax refunds, the IRS announced on the 31st that it conducted a large-scale raid on identity theft and tax refund fraud in 23 states last week, with fruitful results, including the arrest of 105 people. The IRS revealed that the sweep extended from Alaska to Florida and resulted in the prosecution of 80 violations and 58 arrests. Some of the offenders have pleaded guilty or been sentenced. Over the past few months and even years, the IRS has investigated cases that have been joined by the Department of Justice's tax division, the Postal Service and the district attorney's office. Last year, the IRS discovered that 260,000 tax refunds were filed using stolen identities and refused to refund them, saving $1.4 billion in public funds. The IRS said this type of fraud is increasing day by day, with criminals mainly stealing Social Security card numbers and falsely filing tax refunds. IRS Deputy Commissioner Miller said: "The IRS hopes to send out a message at the beginning of the tax filing season, hoping that people will file their taxes correctly." Miller said that Social Security number theft often occurs in schools and hospitals. The cases include three Dayton, Ohio, women accused of using their disability status to fraudulently claim tax refunds, IRS officials said. A female security guard in Montgomery, Alabama, took advantage of her position to fraudulently claim tax refunds by using the identities of the people the state government serves. A Colorado man stole the identities of clients of a failed company to fraudulently claim tax refunds. Over the past week, IRS officials visited 150 financial services companies to investigate whether they were involved in identity theft and tax refund fraud. High-risk metropolitan areas including Atlanta, Birmingham, Alabama, Chicago, Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Phoenix, Tampa, Washington, D.C., are the focus of the investigation. In addition, the Internal Revenue Service inspected more than 250 check cashing agencies across the United States to detect identity theft. Miller said the IRS has installed new screening software on its computer systems to detect cases of identity theft and prevent tax refunds from being given to fraudsters. Miller said that for those who have already filed taxes this year, this operation has caused a one-week delay in refund processing, but it will soon improve.