FILE - This Dec. 3, 2012 file photo shows Senate Foreign Relations Chairman Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., at a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington. Kerry stands tall as President Barack Obama's good soldier. The lawmaker from Massachusetts has quietly jetted off to Afghanistan and Pakistan numerous times to tamp down diplomatic disputes that threatened to explode in the administration's face, spending hours on tea and walks with Afghan President Hamid Karzai or delicate negotiations in Islamabad. It's a highly unusual role for a Senate Foreign Relations Committee chairman: envoy without a specific portfolio. Kerry has pushed the White House's national security agenda in the Senate, with mixed results. He successfully ensured ratification of a nuclear arms reduction treaty in 2010 and most recently failed to convince Republicans to back a U.N. pact on the rights of persons with disabilities. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File)
IRS cracking down on ID theft, tax fraud
Published: 08:00:23 PM, Thu 07 February 2013 UTC
MIAMI (AP) — With tax filing season heating up, the Internal Revenue Service is mounting an aggressive crackdown against identity theft and tax refund fraud.
Officials said Thursday that a January sweep in 32 states and Puerto Rico identified 389 ID theft suspects, including 109 who were arrested. The number of IRS ID theft investigations tripled in 2012 and is focused on high-risk cities such as Miami, New York, Atlanta, San Francisco, Chicago and Los Angeles.
In 2012, the IRS says its investigations prevented $20 billion in would-be fraudulent refunds.
Authorities say Florida leads the nation in identity theft complaints at 178 for every 100,000 residents.
Miami U.S. Attorney Wifredo Ferrer says the fraud is spreading in Florida like a virus.
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