Echoing the work of Carolina Journal, the latest issue of Money magazine highlights the large costs associated with federal tax fraud.
The brief article assesses the “value of fake refunds the IRS caught last year” at $8 billion, then reports:
Stealing your identity and scoring a tax refund in your name is big business for crooks. The Federal Trade Commission fielded 221, 854 complaints through November 2015, up from 109,250 in 2014. While people who have had their Social Security numbers compromised are the most vulnerable, everyone is at risk.
Advice to protect yourself includes: filing your returns before the crooks, filling out Form 14039 to get an Identity Protection PIN, and reporting any problems to police and credit bureaus.
