Kirkwood Tax Fraud Victim Not Alone, Expert Says

On April 18, a resident reported to that someone had used her social security number to file for her tax return, making her yet another victim in a growing brand of identity theft.

The has seen an increase in IRS reject codes that are triggered when a name and social security number do not match on a filing, or, when a name or number has already been used to file a return, according to Kevin Murphy, office manager of the district office and .

"When looking at it from pure tax standpoint, your social security number is really the key," Murphy said. "Only use it whenever it's required."

The problem of tax refund check identity theft is skyrocketing. In 2010, the IRS said it intercepted nearly 49,000 fraudulent tax returns involving identity theft. Last year, that number jumped to 262,000.

Since February, like the one in Kirkwood.

Fortunately in the Kirkwood case, the IRS notified the victim that the suspect did not succeed in obtaining her refund check.