"Identity-thieving tax schemers are proliferating like never before, so it's important to know how to avoid them.

In 2011, there were fewer than 300 Internal Revenue Service criminal investigations into identity theft. That number more than tripled in 2012 to almost 900, and it's on track to double again this year.

The scammers are busy and their schemes are varied.

According to court records, one husband-and-wife team with a tax-prep business in Roanoke, Va., had clients sign returns without reviewing their contents-which the couple would falsify-and then had the inflated refunds deposited directly into their own accounts. Then they'd cut checks to their clients for a fraction of the refund received."

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