Identity Thieves Filing Victims' Taxes?

[ronpaulhawaii]

Strange Story

http://www.wdam.com/Global/story.asp?S=14273286


Identity theft victims receive tax refund checks for returns they never filed

PINELLAS COUNTY,FL (NBC) - James King has spent the past few weeks trying to future out why he got a $6,000 tax refund.

"I have not filed my taxes for 2010," he said.

King says the IRS confirmed someone had filed a tax return using his name and social security number and that a refund had been issued, somewhat explaining the $6,000 check he got in the mail.

Now King knows he's not the only one dealing with some mystery money.

First off, how could a gang cash in without prowling the mailboxes of their victims?

Secondly there is this:


...She called the IRS.

Like King, she has not yet filed her 2010 taxes, but found out what she can expect when she files her real return.

It will likely take one to three years for the IRS to sort out her case.

Her refund will be delayed during the investigation.

An IRS spokesman says he can't comment on specific cases, but also said he has never seen clusters like this before.

Each case will be investigated individually.

Wont this report discourage people from reporting the problem?

[fisharmor]

Wont this report discourage people from reporting the problem?

How many people get $6k refunds?
Seems to me that the ID thieves are filing taxes so that the IRS spits out a bunch more money than they should.
If the victim doesn't report it, the IRS is still going to investigate, and 3 years later the victim will get a bill for that $6k plus a bunch of penalties.

Stuff like this is all just more ammo. Eventually I think the public will start to recognize this system for how stupefyingly moronic it is.
I'm not doing anything out of the ordinary, and last year Turbo Tax couldn't figure out how to file my taxes.
The more complicated the system is, the more likely it is that ID theft will take place. The more that happens, the fewer incentives people will have to actually file.
Of course the feds will be perfectly happy to throw us all in rape dungeons as a result, since that seems to be the only real point to all of this, but eventually folks'll start getting shot, or we'll see more planes getting flown into IRS buildings.

And the mouthpieces will express shock and remind us all that farm animals aren't allowed to act this way.

[realtonygoodwin]

I got a nearly $8000 refund each of the past two years, and I expect to get more than that next year. I don't contribute anything beyond the mandatory stuff like FICA and SS.

[steve005]

buy gold with the 6 grand and in 3 years when they realize the mistake and want it back just sell a tenth of the gold(by that time gold will have gone up ten fold or more)

[Zippyjuan]

That would be pretty hard to do. You would have to be able to get ahold of their W2s and other tax documents.

[ronpaulhawaii]

buy gold with the 6 grand and in 3 years when they realize the mistake and want it back just sell a tenth of the gold(by that time gold will have gone up ten fold or more)

might have to account for interest and penalties...


That would be pretty hard to do. You would have to be able to get ahold of their W2s and other tax documents.

right? A sting, possibly? Man, wouldn't that be sad...

[Zippyjuan]

Obviously the scam didn't work very well if the refund checks were sent to the actual tax payers instead of the scammers. Hard to cash one of those too if it is not yours- they usually check IDs on cashing or depositing refund checks pretty strictly in my experience.

A second possiblity- the people actually did file returns- and they were fradulent or had intentional erros on them. Now they are trying to claim "well I didn't file it! I don't know who did!" out of fear they get caught. Unfortunately now their returns WILL be scrutinized.

[qh4dotcom]

That would be pretty hard to do. You would have to be able to get ahold of their W2s and other tax documents.

Not everyone who files a tax reform uses a W2....all they need is your SSN, name, address, etc.
Even criminals are required to file and report their illegal gains....what tax documents do they have?

[Zippyjuan]

Not everyone who files a tax reform uses a W2....all they need is your SSN, name, address, etc.
Even criminals are required to file and report their illegal gains....what tax documents do they have?
You still need to know the employer, the person's income and taxes withheld.

[VBRonPaulFan]

They don't have to have a damn thing about the person they're filing the taxes for beyond their ssn/name/address/bday (and maybe dependent info). Beyond that, they can make up whatever the hell they want to and submit it. The upfront IRS check's don't include stuff like making sure you've attached a W-2 for an employer who's reported you as an employee or things of that nature. Those are later checks that happen.

I think this is someone being a douche bag and playing a really stupid prank on someone. I don't think the point was ever to cash in on a refund check. I think the point was to cause a huge hassle and a lot of grief for the unwitting victim.

[qh4dotcom]

I think this is someone being a douche bag and playing a really stupid prank on someone. I don't think the point was ever to cash in on a refund check. I think the point was to cause a huge hassle and a lot of grief for the unwitting victim.

What about the douche bag having a bigger grudge against the IRS than the victim you are talking about?

[ronpaulhawaii]

http://news.gather.com/viewArticle.action?articleId=281474979147195


... When this incident regarding James King aired on local TV in Florida, more people stepped up to report that they also received mysterious refunds from the IRS. According to the Pinellas County Florida Sheriff, so far they have received over 25 complaints from people who tried to file their taxes and were told they already did. ... There seems to be some sort of mix-up somewhere. Who is playing games? Could someone with a demented sense of humor be messing with the IRS computer? An unidentified IRS spokesman says he has seen this happened before. He did not give any further explanation. ...

Seems like a lot of trouble to just be a douche...

[qh4dotcom]

You still need to know the employer, the person's income and taxes withheld.

Even criminals are required to file and report their illegal gains....what tax documents do they have? Who's their employer?

[QueenB4Liberty]

Even criminals are required to file and report their illegal gains....what tax documents do they have? Who's their employer?

Like drug dealers? lol that makes no sense. I thought under the table money stayed under the table. Unless someone reports you for having a lot of money.

[VBRonPaulFan]

Like drug dealers? lol that makes no sense. I thought under the table money stayed under the table. Unless someone reports you for having a lot of money.

It makes perfect sense. Obviously they are not going to report income made from illegal activities as it would announce to the government what they're up to. So they don't. And when they get caught, they get slapped with additional jail time/fees for tax evasion/non-compliance. It's really just to leverage additional charges against them, not to get extra revenue.

[VBRonPaulFan]

Even criminals are required to file and report their illegal gains....what tax documents do they have? Who's their employer?

Self employement income is generally reported on a Schedule C.

[VBRonPaulFan]

What about the douche bag having a bigger grudge against the IRS than the victim you are talking about?

It would have to be a really widespread thing to give much of a hassle to the IRS. A couple of select people aren't gonna make a dent on their workload. Most of their back end checks that happen when they're doing serious processing on the returns are going to catch this.

The IRS actually cuts checks BEFORE finishing processing on returns (since that can take some time). They do some basic upfront checks like making sure your SSN matches the name on file with the SSA, making sure your DOB is accurate, dependent info is accurate, you aren't filing a knowable upfront incorrect scenario based on tax rules... but beyond that they don't do much to make sure certain things are correct because people want their refunds in a hurry. Later on they do heavy processing on the return to so if it hits a 'flag' that means they need to look close at it/audit the taxpayer. Not reporting stock transactions, not reporting W2 income from an employer that reported income for you, etc, will flag the return for an audit most likely.

(Most of this stuff is automated now... which is why I say it won't really affect the IRS too much)

[TonySutton]

If you read the article you will see this


The Pinellas County Sheriff's Office says it's gotten 25 reports since the beginning of the year, some from people who tried to file their taxes and were told by the IRS someone already did it and some from those who got checks.

Maybe the criminals missed a mail box or two. If there were 25 reported, how many went unreported? If the criminals gathered a portion of the checks but missed some, how many might have been fraudulently filed? Or maybe, someone is doing this to cause the IRS grief. What if people filed multiple fraudulent returns for multiple people all over the country? It might bring the IRS to it's knees.

[VBRonPaulFan]

Nah, the IRS would just backlog all this stuff and get to it when they got to it. More likely, anyone who cashed those bad refund checks would probably be penalized somehow by the IRS or in court. I think you grossly underestimate the ability of the government to throw money at a problem and punish its own people.

The way they worded the 25 reports thing, it sounds like most of those are probably people who are victims of SSN theft. It's pretty common. Someone will grab your shit from your mailbox to get your name/ssn and sell it to some illegal immigrant so they have an SSN to give to an employer. It's pretty common in the southwest.