Police check reports of phony tax returns

Two Center Grove area residents reported that they went to file their tax returns and found out someone else had gotten to it before them.

Police are investigating both reports. In one case, the Internal Revenue Service noticed the issue and stopped the return from processing. In another, someone else already had filed for the resident’s $2,600 return, according to a report from the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office.

Police are starting to get more of these reports as tax-filing season is coming to an end, Sheriff Doug Cox said.

The issue stems from identity theft, and police could begin hearing about more of these cases due to information stolen during the hack of Anthem’s data, he said.

One of the residents whose returns were taken told police he had gotten a letter from Anthem that his information may have been obtained, the report said.

The other resident received a letter from the IRS, asking her to confirm her identity. When she called, she was told someone had tried to file tax returns in both her name and her husband’s. She was told by the company helping Anthem with personal information security to report the incident to police and keep a copy to file with her tax return, the report said.