Identity Theft/Fraud

Fraudsters are using increasingly sophisticated tactics to manipulate personal details about others for personal gain. (Their modus operandi is all about enjoying life at the expense of their victims.) An identity thief from Jacksonville, Florida took a three-year long joyride with the personal identification...

Sometimes investigations into fraud start out in a straightforward manner with a predicted prosecution and conviction in sight. But, today’s fraud article is a little different. It details the story of a very deceptive man from Mexico who used the stolen identity of a...

Military members are vulnerable to identity theft, fraud and scams, particularly during a deployment. But, service members don’t have to be halfway around the world to become a victim. (It can happen stateside too.) A man from Harvey, Illinois committed identity theft and tax...

Identities used in Stolen Identity Refund Fraud (SIRF) crimes can be stolen from anywhere – hospitals, nursing homes, or even public death lists. An enterprising woman from Antioch, Tennessee committed SIRF and aggravated identity theft by using the personal information of incarcerated individuals under...

It’s tax season, the accounting profession’s most favorite time of the year. It used to be that taxpayers dreaded filling out the confusing tax forms just because they might owe Uncle Sam some money. But now, taxpayers fear having their identities stolen and used...

Credit card companies and financial institutions are typically the most common organizations targeted by identity theft, but government agencies are also seeing an increase in the crime as well. A Brownstown Township, Michigan man defrauded the State’s Unemployment Insurance Agency (UIA) out of more...

Individuals who commit fraud can be very bold and brazen, not to mention sneaky and not very bright when it comes to carrying out a criminal scheme. Somehow, they can reason that their need to steal money is justified and they proceed with the...

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) reports that in 2017, the number of taxpayers who reported tax-related identity theft declined by 50 percent. While this sounds like great news, identity thieves are becoming increasingly savvy at finding new ways to steal money from unsuspecting victims...

Today’s “Fraud of the Day” is based on an article entitled, “Phenix City resident convicted of stolen identity fraud ring that sought $26 million,” posted on AL.com. A Phenix City resident was convicted by a federal jury for stealing the identities of soldiers, state prisoners and teenagers in a scheme that sought $26 million in false tax returns.

In honor of International Fraud Awareness Week (November 12-18), a worldwide event which serves to get the word out about fraud and its related crimes, organizations are working to help consumers and businesses understand not just the things they can do to minimize their risk of identity theft, but also the very serious ways that being a victim can hurt you. For more than a decade, the Identity Theft Resource Center has compiled the Identity Theft: The Aftermath report, which surveys victims who have previously contacted the nonprofit organization about their identity theft problems.