(Click on the image for Michelle Singletary's Washington Post report)
[Michelle wrote this last year but it is relevant in this tax season.]- Cybercriminals steal people’s data from tax professionals, including routing and bank account numbers. The crooks file fraudulent tax returns. Fake refunds are then direct deposited into taxpayers’ real bank accounts.
- In one version of this scam, the criminals then contact victims claiming to be from a debt-collection agency, and they say the refunds were deposited in error. They claim they are now trying to get the refund back for the IRS.
- In another version of this racket, a taxpayer gets a menacing recorded telephone message about the deposited refund. Someone claiming to be from the IRS threatens the person with arrest, criminal fraud charges and a warning that his or her Social Security number will be “blacklisted.” People are given a case number and then a telephone number to call to arrange the return of the refund, the IRS said.