Street Gangs, Tax Fraud and ‘Drop Hoes’
Summary: Authorities arrested dozens of gang members accused of identity theft and tax fraud, including 32 members and associates of the Insane Crip gang charged with 283 counts of criminal conspiracy and 299 counts of identity theft in a $14.3 million scheme, and 14 members of the 111 Neighborhood Crips in Elizabeth, N.J., indicted on 49 counts including filing false tax returns and manufacturing fake gift cards. The article notes tax return fraud costs consumers and the U.S. Treasury more than $6 billion annually according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office, and describes gangs recruiting accomplices known as "drop hoes" to receive fraudulent refunds.
Why it matters: Tax return fraud drains more than $6 billion a year from consumers and the Treasury, and street gangs now treat identity theft as a lower-risk, equally lucrative alternative to drug dealing, staffing it with recruits who cash out stolen identities.
Read the original at Krebs on Security ↗
- Topics
- Fraud & Scams
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