Fraudsters regularly target refunds due to others from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). The IRS routinely puts out media to warn consumers of new schemes and scams that may endanger their refund and their personal contact information.
While you have likely seen these warnings, have you ever wondered what that type of scam looks like from the inside?
In June 2020, an Oregon man pled guilty to filing fraudulent tax returns. The offense is pretty common, and this individual worked with a team to carry out the scam. Here are the elements:
There are at least two take-home points from this story. One is to safeguard your personal contact information. It is easy to see why hackers work hard to exfiltrate personal information from a variety of databases. The sale of personal information is lucrative for perpetrating tax and other crimes.
The second point is that fraudsters are usually caught at some point. Sometimes a guilty plea can slightly lessen the severity of consequences, but life and livelihood are still seriously impacted. If you, or someone you know, are involved in a high-level tax fraud, or potentially facing criminal tax charge—speak with a tax attorney focused on criminal tax defense.
Located in Cleveland and Chicago, the criminal tax lawyers at Robert J. Fedor, Esq., LLC respond to your concerns about payroll tax issues, allegations of tax fraud or other tax controversy. When you need skilled tax advice locally or abroad, call 800-579-0997 or contact us.