The FBI issued an alert Wednesday, warning Americans about criminals stealing the identities of taxpayers to file fake returns and claim refunds.
“The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) has received over 1,000 complaints about identity theft in connection with tax returns within the past year representing a 26 percent increase from the previous year,” the agency said in an April 2 statement.
“Stolen refunds are often redirected by criminal actors to accounts or addresses they control, including bank accounts, prepaid debit cards, mail drops, and/or third-party accounts.”
To prevent getting victimized, the FBI suggested recommendations made by the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) that taxpayers set up an Identity Protection Personal Identification Number (IP PIN)….