Scammers Use Alabama and Mississippi Teachers’ Info in Tax Scheme

Teachers in both Alabama and Mississippi were victims in a scam where two men obtained personal information and used it to obtain false tax returns.

According to the AP, Babatunde Olusegun Taiwo of the St. Louis area and co-conspirator Kevin Williams filed more than 2,000 fraudulent tax returns that claimed more than $12 million in refunds.

No offense, but if the scammers wanted to use a profession to get extra money from the IRS, using teachers was THE WRONG thing to do! Teachers need ALL of their money! Well actually, everyone does; but teachers are significantly underpaid as it is.

The IRS paid out about $890,000, which must be paid back in restitution. Hopefully, the teachers to whom money is owed will get their money before the IRS gets theirs (which is unlikely).

Taiwo was sentenced to four years in prison. Williams was previously sentenced to 6 1/2 years. Source.

As many people anticipate the arrival of their W-2s, it's important to be aware of data breaches. For a list of data breaches over the past few years, click here.