MEMPHIS, Tenn. — We may be long past tax filing season, but steps consumers take now, could put them at risk next year!
It can happen in an instant.
Thieves easily steal your identity with only a keystroke.
U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee Edward Stanton, III is talking about Stolen Identity Refund Fraud or “SIRF”.
“Those numbers are stolen, social security numbers and actually filed for refunds, returns with the Internal Revenue Service,” said Stanton.
Crooks identify and steal volumes of social security numbers, then file returns early in the tax season.
The taxpayer typically doesn’t even find out until its time to file.
“Sometimes we’ve seen hundreds of returns on a weekly basis,” Stanton said.
The latest numbers from the Internal Revenue Service are from 2013 and show the agency issued more than $5 billion in fraudulent returns.
It also says it stopped criminals from getting more than $20 billion.
The Western District has prosecuted more than 20 SIRF cases over the past five years.
Common targets are children, the elderly and deceased.
These are people who wouldn’t ordinarily have enough income to file.
Crooks also focus on places where lots of data for those folks is stored, like nursing homes, hospitals and day cares.
“Medical records, banking institutions, as we’ve prosecuted one case where numbers were stolen from a local high school,” added Stanton.
Tax season is over, but the crooks work year round and so should consumers to protect their identity.
Stanton told WREG, it’s unfortunate it’s gotten to this point.
“There are certain things we can do to protect ourselves and insulate ourselves, but this is a huge business now,” he said.
Protect Yourself from SIRF
- Don’t give out personal, financial information over the phone
- Shop with a credit card online
- Avoid wi-fi for personal, financial transactions
- Ask companies how they store and use your personal information
- Request to use an alternate ID, instead of a social security number
- Keep an eye on your accounts
If You’re a Victim of Identity Theft
- Notify financial institutions
- Contact credit bureaus
- Call the IRS for special PIN to file next, tax season
