As the citizens of South Florida begin receiving the tax forms they will need to file their returns, some people have found that their returns have already been filed and their refunds fraudulently claimed without their consent.

As we wrote about recently, six people were recently indicted in a criminal tax fraud conspiracy case that involved filing returns on behalf of deceased people. At least a dozen very much alive taxpayers had to wait in long lines at an IRS office in Plantation, Florida, this week in order to submit an identity theft affidavit last week in the wake of people stealing their identities and claiming refunds.

The people who were affected by the identity theft found their lives disrupted right away. One woman said she went to the police to file a report, but officers told her she had to go to the IRS office to take care of it. Once there, at the only IRS office in Broward County, Florida, the woman encountered not just long lines but a shortage of employees.

A spokesman for the IRS office said that the office currently has six vacancies which it has been unable to fill because of a federal hiring freeze. The crush led to several people being turned away after waiting for three hours or more.

According to a Government Accountability Office official, about 250,000 taxpayer identity theft cases were reported for 2010. People in Florida whose identities have been stolen in order to file false tax returns should consult with an experienced tax litigation attorney to prevent further damage.

Source: Sun-Sentinel, "IRS says thieves preying on tax returns," Donna Gehrke-White, Feb. 3, 2012