In U.S., a significant number of families lose not only their loved ones, but their loved one’s tax refunds as well.
Since 2008, more than 490,000 dead people have fallen victim to frauds who stole their tax refunds, according to a news report.
Usually, to get a dead person’s tax refund, frauds claim that they were the dependents of the decedent when they file for a tax refund.
Apparently, stealing a decedent’s tax refund is easy since information such as the social security numbers of the deceased are often posted online. Allegedly, other institutions such as hospitals, local governments and insurance companies posted decedents’ information, including birth dates and SS numbers online, which were sold by Social Security Administration.
Every year, the identities of about 2.5 million Americans are stolen for financial purposes such as loan and credit card applications, based from a recent study conducted by the ID Analytics.
At present, six suspects have been charged for stealing 1.7 million tax refunds from dead people. The accused could be sentenced to 20 years of imprisonment and could be required to pay monetary damages amounting to $250,000.
Nowadays, although frauds can make use of all the resources they can get for their deceitfulness, dependents can also take the same move as their advantage over frauds. Dependents could determine if their loved ones’ identity has been stolen by keeping an eye over the decedent’s credit report which can only be secured by providing the decedent’s certificate of death and proof of relationship.
Way back in 2011, more than 640,000 tax payers were affected by tax fraud; worst, in the next five years, U.S. will be more likely to issue some $26 billion in tax refunds to frauds who are involved in identity theft both from living and dead beneficiaries. This was according to the Treasury Department’s inspector general for tax administration, J Russell George.
Unfortunately, as a result of the said scam, IRS will be delaying many legitimate tax refunds.
Probably after learning that social security fund is already draining, frauds tend to look for another alternative where they can fetch plenty of cash. Leaking social security info issue has still no solid evidences, but if ever you found out that your identity was stolen, or if any of your SSA claims have been touched without your consent due to leaked information, you may consult a Los Angeles social security claim lawyer to determine your legal rights and what move you are allowed to do so under federal laws.
