How could you have stopped me?

Thank you for your 2015 Federal tax return dollars. Sure, you are working hard now to get your forms in order before the April 18th deadline, but don’t worry. I already beat you to it! I will be using your tax return dollars to go on a vacation or perhaps buy something nice for my girlfriend. The opportunities are endless with your money.

I can hear you now: “That couldn’t happen to me because I know all about identity theft and how to avoid it.” Don’t you remember surfing the internet at the airport on the free, unprotected Wi-Fi network? Or perhaps you didn’t notice that some of your mail never made it to the destination. Don’t you remember using your social security number at the doctor’s office last month? By the way, I loved those photos of your birthday party you posted on Facebook too. Thank you, because each one of those actions made stealing your tax return very easy. All I needed was your name, social security number, and date of birth — then I was home free.

I just produced a fake W2 and filed it electronically that very same day. Thanks to the fast processing time at the IRS, I had your hard earned money before you even got your real W2. By the time you realize what happened, I will be long gone. Sure, you can call the police, but I don’t live in your city. Heck, I don’t even live in your state. I might not even live in your country! I received your funds electronically and I was nowhere near you. Thank you for playing. Game over.

If this sounds scary, you’re right. The fraudulent filing of Federal income taxes is a booming business resulting in the loss of over $6 billion in 2014 alone and the IRS expects that number to grow to over $20 billion by the end of 2016. Yes, I said $20 billion dollars. The IRS is working hard to slow me down, but the odds are on my side. That’s because you are helping me and you don’t even know it.

So what can you do to stop from being my next victim? An updated firewall with modern anti-virus software might keep me out. You might want to change your password from “password.” I’m not kidding. Maybe skip the free Wi-Fi next time and be extra careful playing around with random emails from unknown senders. Every time you click on the attachments in those surprise emails, they could be phishing attempts. These are tricky little electronic “trojan horses.” That’s a great way for me to insert a virus and start looking around your computer. We both know that there are things on your computer you don’t want me to see. I LOVE IT when you post on social media sites — keep that free information coming!

Let’s not forget some of the classics as well. I really appreciate you giving your personal information to me when I call you on the phone. Some of my guys are very convincing. Sometimes I even get lucky picking up the wallet you dropped on the bus — thanks for carrying your social security card in your wallet. Hey, just because it’s 2016 for everyone else, I love that you’re still acting like its 1976. You make my job that much easier. After all, if you start exercising more common sense precautions, I will have to find a new victim to fund my vacation plans. Of course, I could just target your HR department and get them to give me all I need, but I don’t want to give away all my tricks today…

You may have heard that the IRS is stepping up their enforcement efforts — looking for red flags in 2015 filings. If they spot suspicious behavior on a tax return, they will stop the process and contact you by email or phone. Just be careful that it isn’t me on the other end of that line! Multiple filings under the same social security number is a pretty obvious problem — even for the IRS to catch — but you better act fast when you spot the problem. If not, I may already be on the beach, courtesy of your refund. Thank you for ignoring most of my advice. My girlfriend thanks you too!

For more information direct from the IRS on tax refund fraud, visit https://www.irs.gov/uac/Tax-Scams-Consumer-Alerts. Additionally, if you feel like you have been the victim of identity theft visit the Federal Trade Commission at https://www.identitytheft.gov/ for a step by step guide for what to do next. Or don’t, my tan can always use some work!