Identity Thieves Target Tax Refunds

Ryan McVay/Photodisc(WASHINGTON) -- Tax day is less than two weeks away, and this year, for the first time ever, the Federal Trade Commission says tax refunds are the No. 1 target of identity thieves.

The FTC said complaints fall into three main categories:

Fake Tax Prep Services: Thieves offer to do other people's taxes for free. They then file fraudulent returns with Uncle Sam, and hijack the refunds for themselves.

Employment Fraud: A crook gets a real job, but gives a stolen Social Security number. The crime is revealed when the person with that Social Security number gets a notice saying they failed to declare income.

Stealing Dependents: In this scenario, crooks snag a child's Social Security number, then lie on their returns by claiming the child as their own -- all to try to score a larger refund.

"From the criminal's perspective, a little bit of money from a great number of people starts to add up," said Steven Toporoff, an attorney at the FTC.

Copyright 2011 ABC News Radio