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March 25 - During Tax Season, IRS Says Crooks First Steal Identities, Then Steal Refunds

Most of us anticipate tax season with the same enthusiasm we show for root canals. But for crooks and con artists, it’s a wonderful time of the year—a time to steal your identity, and your tax refund. Today’s topic is tax-related identity theft, which is the number one scam on the Internal Revenue Service’s Dirty Dozen list of con games.

Mary Lou Cooper reports on consumer issues for KSFR as well as on politics and elder affairs. She has worked for the U.S. Congress as well as for the Nevada and Tennessee legislatures, and remains a political junkie. She worked many years for an association of Western state legislatures and was a contributor to “Capitol Ideas,” a national magazine about state government. In 2016 Cooper received a public service award from the New Mexico Broadcasting Association for her KSFR story on Internet romance scams. She has received journalism awards from the Society of Professional Journalists and from the National Federation of Press Women. She grew up in Oak Ridge, TN and received her BA from Emory University in Atlanta and her MA from the University of Texas Austin. She also holds fiction and screenwriting certificates from the University of Washington.