here's how it works crooks use stolen
identities to file for a tax return
online victims have no idea until they
try to file their own return inspectors
say that when filing identity thieves
asked to have their refunds put on a
debit card but in order for them to get
the money they need other people to
receive the debit cards in the mail from
the IRS
postal inspectors tracked down one of
these middlemen and learn the
intricacies of the scam
once the middleman receives the debit
card from the IRS
he sends the cards passwords to the
mastermind who is often overseas in this
case the go-between was living in a
hotel and an astute employee noticed
something unusual
the suspect was receiving numerous debit
cards in different names and so the
hotel manager noticed that all these
debit cards with different names were
going to this one room a search warrant
uncovered valuable evidence we found
several debit cards with other people's
names on them
we also seized the computer of the
suspect we recovered over 200 stolen
identities and also were able to recover
the chat messages between the suspect
and the suspects in Nigeria authorities
warned the suspect to discontinue his
role in this scheme but he didn't listen
once we were gone the suspect went out
and purchased another computer and
contacted the individuals in Nigeria
told him the feds were there and they
took everything the middleman faced
several charges including obstruction of
justice and was sentenced to 11 years in
prison this case is just a small part of
a larger case that's being investigated
nationwide the total loss of today is
over a hundred and fifty million dollars
so this case is hitting a larger portion
of the country the best way to figure
out if your identity has been stolen
annual credit report.com it'll give you
a free copy of your credit report and
you can go through to make sure there is
no new accounts open up in your name
that you weren't aware of