Union County State's Attorney Tyler Edmonds (pictured) is alerting the public regarding identity theft and tax refund fraud associated with April's tax filing deadline.
He says tax refund fraud commonly occurs when stolen identity information is used to file a tax return in the victim's name and the thief then obtains the refund that would be due to the victim.
Tax refund fraud was reported last year in Union County and the State's Attorney's Office urges the public to protect identifying documents and information as the tax deadline approaches.
Members of the public with questions or to report suspicious activity are urged to call the Union County State's Attorney's Office or the IRS Southern Illinois ID Theft/Refund Fraud Response Team at 618-410-6918.
Additional information is also available at www. irs .gov/ identitytheft