CBS 5 - KPHO Scam Alert: Taxpayer ID Theft

Scam Alert: Taxpayer ID Theft

The number of tax filers whose identities have been stolen rose five-fold between 2008 and 2010, according to a Government Accountability Report obtained by the Associate Press.
In 2010, the number of people victimized by tax identity theft totaled 248,357. That was up from 51,702 in 2008, according to the GAO.

In some cases, identity thieves file their own tax returns using the victims' Social Security numbers. The IRS reports that these fraudulent returns are often filed early in the tax season. By the time the legitimate filers send in their returns, the thieves have already received the refunds.

The IRS reports that it has improved its protection for filers, as well as its response for victims. One remedy the agency uses is to flag a victim's Social Security number for future filing years.