Overview
- Tax experts report a rise in refund fraud as the deadline approaches, with the IRS flagging millions of returns each year for possible identity theft.
- A state-level review of FTC reports points to Florida, California, Georgia, New Jersey, Texas and Nevada as high-risk areas for identity and tax fraud.
- Criminals increasingly use generative AI and phone or email impersonation, including fake TurboTax or IRS contacts, to steal data.
- Officials advise filing early, turning on multifactor logins, monitoring records, and using the IRS Identity Protection PIN, which any taxpayer can now obtain.
- The fallout can be severe, from $4.5 billion in losses and average 675-day case backlogs to employment fraud that sticks victims with tax bills for wages they never earned.