Prison can get pretty lonely. Even though conditions within the prison system can be quite adverse, many incarcerated individuals cope by studying to further their education, writing articles or stories or adopting a pen pal. (There are many websites that claim to match prisoners up with pen pals on the outside.) A Department of Justice press release states that a Washington woman used the relationships she built with several prison inmates across the country to obtain personal information she later used to file fraudulent tax returns.
According to the story, the woman who happened to be incarcerated, as well, not only gleaned personal identifying information from the people she wrote to, but she also purchased information about people employed by a janitorial service from a co-conspirator. (The woman used the stolen information to file more than 150 fraudulent tax returns over a year.)
The fraudster sought more than $170,000 in tax refunds and received $56,000 at addresses controlled by friends and family members. (One of her victims claimed that the crime impacted their credit score and caused the denial of credit and job opportunities.)
The 45-year-old woman was sentenced to 30 months in prison for wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. She was also ordered to pay more than $56,000 in restitution to the Internal Revenue Service.
The concept of providing prisoners with a positive influence through pen pal correspondence is certainly noble, but also risky. While there are prisoners who would not abuse a pen pal relationship, there are many that would see a pen pal as a potential resource. This case serves as a good example to criminals who are looking for victims to scam – you will eventually get caught. (And for those who want to be a positive influence in someone else’s life, think about writing to people serving in the military – your correspondence would be much safer and greatly appreciated.)
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