My background is a little unconventional. I’m a disabled veteran and former Special Operations officer with the United States Army Airborne. After my service, I earned a master’s degree from the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School of Business, where I wrote my thesis on bankruptcy crimes and hidden assets. That unique mix of military, academic, and real-world experience eventually led to me being called as a government expert witness in federal tax crime cases — specifically those involving tax identification number fraud.
Sitting on the stand, explaining these schemes to a judge and jury, made one thing crystal clear: tax ID fraud has become incredibly sophisticated, and both businesses and individuals are more vulnerable than they realize.
Tax ID fraud typically involves criminals stealing or fabricating Employer Identification Numbers (EINs) or misusing Social Security numbers to file phony returns, open fraudulent accounts, or steal refunds. In some cases, fraudsters use synthetic identities to create fake companies. The fallout isn’t just financial — legitimate owners can lose access to their own tax accounts for months while the IRS untangles the mess.
From these cases, the clearest lesson is simple: prevention beats reaction every time. Here are the practical steps I now recommend to every client:
- Separate personal and business identities. If you’re still using your Social Security number for your business, get an EIN. It creates a cleaner break that makes fraud much harder.
- Lock down your data. Strong unique passwords, multi-factor authentication, and up-to-date security aren’t optional anymore. Most breaches start with something basic like phishing.
- Monitor aggressively. Check your business credit reports regularly, watch for strange IRS notices, and pull transcripts on the IRS website. Early detection saves massive headaches.
- Stay skeptical. Be wary of “too good to be true” tax opportunities — many fraud schemes start there.
Today, as president of EINsearch.io, we’ve built what we believe is the fastest EIN matching system on the planet, backed by a database of more than 25 million records for verification and compliance. That work grew directly out of seeing how these crimes actually play out in federal court.
If you’re a business that processes EINs or needs fast, reliable IRS matching, we offer a free enterprise trial to qualified companies for both our IRS matching API and our EIN search API. It’s a great way to see the speed and accuracy for yourself.
Testifying in these cases reinforced something basic but important: the people committing these crimes are patient and methodical. The good news is that consistent vigilance closes most of the gaps they exploit.
If you’ve received odd IRS correspondence or suspect an issue with your tax ID, don’t wait. Reach out to a qualified tax professional early.