Moms Selling Kids’ Identity To Tax Scammers

I’ve heard parents call their kids “my little tax deduction,” but a set of moms in the midwest decided their kids could be someone else’s tax deduction this year.

The Internal Revenue Service has fingered twin sisters from Detroit for allegedly selling their kids’ social security numbers to tax scammers who were then writing the kids off their taxes to save some cash.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Karhonda and Kashaunda Prophet would take $200 to $400 in exchange for their kids’ digits. Something tells me they didn’t claim it as income on their taxes either.

Considering the IRS offers a tax credit of up to $1,000 for parents - this could have been profitable for the scammers. But what good did it do the Prophets? It’s hard to take your kid off your on taxes when someone else is doing so.

The women should also be ashamed of themselves for putting their kids’ social security numbers at risk. If the scammers are willing to defraud the IRS, chances are they’re not going to be all too careful with who gets hold of these kids’ Social Security numbers - which can potentially ruin these kids’ credit before they’re even old enough to GET credit. Kids identities are currently the fastest growing sector for theft.

In this economy, something tells me that’s just going to get worse.

Image: fabricator of useless articles via flickr

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Tags: child identity theft, Jeanne Sager, secure identity, social security, social security numbers, tax evasion, tax fraud