Sunday, February 26, 2012

Umbrella cockatoo does cameo in story of "identity theft"/fake income tax refunds

CBS Nightly News on 26 Feb. 2012 showed an umbrella cockatoo in its piece on (fraudulent) tax refunds done by Pete Williams, titled "Securing your refund." Tax thieves are going after your money by filing fake income tax returns. Bart Cohen of Miami had the cockatoo (which was shown flying off his hand), but had someone else file for his refund last year. Fake refund filings were 49,000 two years ago but up to 261,982 last year. Stolen social security numbers are key to the scam of filing falsely for income tax returns. Advice: Safeguard your social security number. Also, file early.

As to other bad news:

Average price of gas is now $3.69/gallon.

With 96,000+ Americans still in Afghanistan, there is a problem with the current unrest about the Quran burning, including a grenade attack in Kunduz on February 26, 2012. Ryan Crocker noted that civilian imbeds are being withdrawn.

Passenger train derailment in Ontario. from usatoday: Burlington, Ontario.
Lamarche said no passengers died but dozens were injured. She said 75 people were on board the train traveling from Niagara Falls to Toronto when it derailed Sunday afternoon near Aldershot station.

***As to the income tax matter, the Sun-Sentinel presented a scarier picture:

from May 25, 2011: Criminals who commit tax fraud using stolen Social Security numbers — many of them based in South Florida — have victimized nearly half a million taxpayers since 2008 and collected millions of dollars of refunds

***As to Cohen:

from April 19, 2011: Bart Cohen, who lives west of Boynton Beach and is a retired Miami-Dade police officer, had been counting on a $4,000 tax refund to pay his real estate taxes or insurance premium.

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