Criminal Identity Theft Investigations Rise 66% at IRS
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The Internal Revenue Service started 1,492 criminal investigations into the use of tax returns to commit identity theft in the year that ended Sept. 30, a 66 percent increase, the agency said today.
The data release comes less than a month before the start of the tax-filing season -- the time when criminals most often file fake tax returns and claim refunds before legitimate taxpayers can do so.