Over the last few weeks the Delta County Sheriff’s Office has received several reports of income tax fraud. This is when someone else has falsely filed an income tax return in another person’s name.
Generally, the identity thief uses the victim’s social security number to file the fraudulent return showing income levels that may result in several thousand dollars in tax return that are then sent directly to culprit.
They usually do this by changing or adding a direct deposit routing number for the check to be mailed to the culprit’s bank account.
So far five cases have been reported. The authorities believe it is unlikely the thief lives in Delta County.
Anyone can be the victim of identity theft. In fact, Sheriff Ricky Smith and United States Attorney General, Eric Holder, were the victims of this crime.
If someone has filed an income tax return in your name the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will investigate the crime, however please contact the Delta County Sheriff’s Office.
The Delta County Sheriff’s Office will make a report on each case and continue to monitor these cases to ensure that the identity thief is not a local.