Bellevue woman's ID stolen in tax fraud; IRS refund sent elsewhere

A Bellevue resident has discovered that someone fraudulently filed her tax return and received a $34,000 refund, according to police reports.

The woman reported Thursday that she called the Internal Revenue Service and learned the refund was sent to a California address, Bellevue police reported.

It was unclear whether someone used her Social Security number alone or whether a tax return was filed in her name. She could not be reached for comment.

In the past few months alone, federal authorities have prosecuted several cases of tax fraud in which identity thieves used Social Security numbers to file fraudulent returns. In some cases, unscrupulous tax preparers doctored their clients' returns to get extra money back for themselves, according to the IRS Web site.

Thieves can falsify income or tax information, such as number of dependants, to receive large refunds in someone else's name.

"I don't know how to quantify it, but I've seen it several times," said Special Agent Dan Wardlaw of the IRS Criminal Division. "That's one reason we caution people to safeguard tax and identity information, because it can happen."

The deadline for filing taxes was April 15. The Bellevue woman filed a report with federal authorities, who requested that she notify Bellevue police in case her financial accounts were compromised, police spokesman Greg Grannis said.

"A lot of the time, by the time you've found out, they've hit you in three or four directions," Grannis said.

Filing a false tax return is punishable by up to five years' imprisonment, and conspiring to defraud the government with respect to claims is punishable by up to 10 years. An identity-theft conviction can result in a prison term of up to five years.