U.S. warns of ID theft in tax refunds

Flickr image courtesy Dinner Series

87 months? Holy Cow!

If you want to get your tax refund as soon as possible, forget about paper. The best way to get your money moving in your direction pronto is to e-file your return. But if you don't do it right, electronic tax filing can cause some big problems. Not to worry:

(frankieleon)

(arsheffield)

If you’re waiting to file your taxes until the last minute, you’ve got plenty of company. The IRS says that 20 to 25 percent of taxpayers file within two weeks of the April 15 deadline, while another 7 percent get an extension. 

The Treasury may be losing as much as $5 billion a year from fraudulent tax refund claims???and most of that fraud is entirely preventable. The Times reported yesterday about the rampant use of identity theft to exploit weaknesses in the IRS's tax refund processes, sometimes resulting in thousands of fraudulent refunds. The most common form ...

More than a million Americans have their tax refunds stolen by identity thieves every year — and that number is skyrocketing. National Taxpayer Advocate Nina E. Olson told Congress in a January report that the number of tax-related identity theft cases surged 650% since 2008. A CNN article last year says tax returns have become a popular target for crime rings who decide drugs are too risky. Whereas refund scams of generations past would involve setting up a physical storefront to rip people off, the rise of the Internet has made it much easier for criminals.