In the News

April 16, 2013

By Donna Gehrke-White, Sun Sentinel

As South Floridians rushed to file their taxes on Monday, congressional lawmakers said they would push for tougher laws to help cut down on what law enforcement officials continue to call an "epidemic" of tax-related theft in the region.

U.S. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Weston, said she will reintroduce legislation to enact tougher penalties against identity thieves.

"This is becoming such a burgeoning problem — I think we are going to get this bill passed this time," Wasserman Schultz said as she spent Monday morning at an Income Tax Assistance site where low- and moderate-income people got their federal taxes prepared free of charge just in time for the tax deadline.

The STOP Identity Theft Act would increase imprisonment for convicted ID thieves from five to up to 20 years. It would also concentrate law enforcement efforts where the crime most frequently occurs, such as Broward, Miami-Dade and Palm Beach counties. The law was first proposed last year, and since then has gotten more support as more congressional leaders hear from their constituents becoming victims.

For a third year in a row, South Florida leads the nation's largest metro areas in reports of identity theft, according to the Federal Trade Commission. The three counties had 35,914 reports of identity theft in 2012 — more than doubling in just a year, the FTC found.

"We have to make it more of a serious crime that has serious consequences," Wasserman Schultz said.

U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., also has proposed legislation to stop the theft. So have other Florida congressional members.

Broward Sheriff's Office Detective Mitchell Gordon said gangs of identity thieves have been prowling throughout South Florida to get quick cash by taking someone else's name to file a federal tax return to get a hefty refund check.

Thieves "are doing it because it's much easier than holding someone up," he said. They're focusing on large hauls of information found on computers, the detective added.

Gordon pointed to the BSO investigation that led to the arrests last month of five alleged identity thieves who were accused of stealing more than 6,000 victims' personal information.

"They got it from databases," the detective said. "The information is just out there. They can download it. People have to be careful in giving out information."

That's why Wasserman Schultz said she has had a series of town hall meetings to alert South Floridians.

Although some tax preparers said they have seen a slowdown in ID theft this tax season, Gordon said the BSO is still seeing nearly the same high levels of theft as last year.

One of Wasserman Schultz's constituents, Gwen Weinberger, has had her identity swiped before she and her husband could file their taxes — two years in a row.

"We had to prove who we are. We had to supply passports, birth certificates and drivers' licenses," Weinberger said. "Dealing with the IRS was impossible."

In fact, the couple still don't have their refund from last year. The Taxpayer Advocate Service is telling them it finally will arrive next month.

Meanwhile, the Weinbergers can't file their 2012 taxes. They asked for an extension beyond Monday's deadline.

The most aggravating thing: Weinberger said she couldn't use the PIN number the IRS issued to her as an ID theft victim because staffers told her "the woman's is never used for couples — only the man's."

"That's going to change," Wasserman Schultz vowed.