Ways Identity Thieves Use to Steal Tax Information

Last updated on February 19, 2022

During tax season, many taxpayers are surprised to discover that their tax returns have already been filed. Identity theft is a crime that can easily be carried out electronically. Many tax thieves steal the identity of taxpayers online through I.D. phishing and file false tax returns through IRS e-filing and get big money in refunds right into their bank accounts.

Apart from phishing, identity thieves have also been known to bribe office workers or employers to gain access to sensitive tax information of company employees.

In North Miami last year, a man was charged with stealing the Social Security numbers and names of about 26,000 employees of a law firm. A U.S. Marine was imprisoned for nearly five years for stealing the tax information of more than 40 Marines to file fraudulent tax returns and claim about $54,000 in false tax refunds.

Individual taxpayers, seasoned tax thieves, and gangs steal identities of thousands of taxpayers to claim millions in false tax refunds. The IRS has sent many billions in false tax refunds, which only encourages more legitimate taxpayers to become tax thieves.

The IRS has increased its task force by 3,000 to bring down identity theft, but the organization still has limited resources. Even though the IRS is trying to block fraudulent tax returns, the country is losing billions through false tax refunds. The IRS recognizes identity theft as one of the biggest challenges they are facing today, and that is what identity theft has grown to become: a challenge.