U.S. attorney: Florida tops in ID theft

By Sean Fredricks | February 21, 2015

U.S. attorney: Florida tops in ID theft

Wifredo Ferrer, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Florida, spoke to 105 people at the annual Palm Beach Crime Watch breakfast Feb. 3 at The Colony.Ferrer told the group that identity theft is the No. 1 consumer complaint in the country and Florida tops the list for the most reported cases nationwide. Public Safety Director Kirk Blouin introduced Ferrer. The Southern District of Florida has more than 250 attorneys who try more cases than any other U.S. attorney’s office in the nation, said Ferrer, who’s held the office for five years.

Identity theft tax fraud — stealing personal information and filing bogus tax returns — is prevalent and has been perpetrated by people from every walk of life, Ferrer said in 2012, Ferrer created a 20-agency federal and state task force to help combat the crime of identity theft tax fraud. “Crime is a business. It’s all about the money, and you have all types of cases,” he said. “Since we started this task force, we’ve indicted over 300 individuals who were responsible for over $490 million in intended loss from the IRS.”

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