What's the Ideal Job for an Identity Thief? IRS Tax Examiner!
From the records of the United States Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration: the tale of a gang of identity thieves working out of the Internal Revenue Service's Northern District of Georgia office. They were busted just before the recent tax season. So your most recent data is safe. From them. For now.
IRS Employee Orchestrated Identity Theft Refund Scheme Using Taxpayer Records
On December 10, 2013, in the Northern District of Georgia, IRS Tax Examining Technician Missy Sledge was indicted for aggravated identity theft and mail fraud.
According to court documents, as part of her official IRS duties, Sledge had access to taxpayers' personal identifiers, including names, Social Security Numbers (SSN), dates of birth, and addresses, and information about tax professionals. Sledge used this access in furtherance of an identity theft scheme which included the filing of fraudulent tax returns and the subsequent theft of refunds. With information from IRS computer systems, Sledge provided taxpayers' personal information to her coconspirators.
Hey, if you're gonna pilfer other people's personal information and steal their money, you might as well get government bennies while you do it.
Sledge received four years and nine months in prison for her misdeeds, which victimized 60 taxpayers. The status of her pals in the scheme is unclear.
But chances are, your tax returns are still, totally, hacker bait.