Yesterday the IRS announced a nation-wide crackdown on suspected identity theft perpetrators. With the help of DOJ’s Tax Division and local US Attorneys, the IRS conducted a flurry of visits, inquiries, indictments, and arrests over the last week. The IRS almost seems obsessed with their stats:
- 939 criminal charges
- 250 check-cashing operations under audit
- 105 people targeted in 23 states
- 69 indictments
- visits to 150 money services businesses
- 58 arrests
- 19 search warrants
- 10 guilty pleas
- 4 sentencing
- 1 lethal injection administered*
The IRS has also recently added new content to their website dedicated to curbing identity theft. The reason for all this focus on identity theft is to stop and prevent new cases of refund fraud ahead of the tax filing season.
This unprecedented effort against identity theft sends a strong, unmistakable message to anyone considering participating in a refund fraud scheme this tax season. We are aggressively pursuing cases across the nation with the Justice Department, and people will be going to jail. This is part of a much wider effort underway at the IRS to help protect taxpayers.
~ IRS Commissioner Doug Shulman
I don’t know about you but I wouldn’t want to be one of Shulman’s statistics. The Commish isn’t fooling around.