and an investigative report. could your tax refund be taken right from under you? >> does it look like a real w 2 to you. looks legit. >> the format looks legit. >> mark: we go online to see how easy it is for scammers to take your money. anytime, anywhere, award anytime, anywhere, award-winning coverage you can count on. this is abc 13 news. >> mark: downed trees popped up around lynchburg. check out this scene on leesburg road. lynchburg police stopped traffic in both directions after that tree took down power lines. people in that area said they were without power for two hours. >> danner: that problem affect aid loft our region including roanoke. >> mark: annie andersen found a lot of that damage. annie, walk us through what you came across. >> reporter: you couldn't walk a block without seeing a downed tree out here. one neighborhood this them at

some hit power lines knocking out power to whole subdivisionsout power to whole subdivisions. >> reporter: lucky and millie are not guard dogs, but overnight they let their guardian know something was up. >> behind our house is a lake and the trees and willows were breaking off huge limbs. the dogs heard it. >> reporter: seconds later. >> we heard an explosion. i am sure it was a transformer and we didn't hear anything because all the power went off. >> reporter:. alone. at one point appalachian power reported 50,000 customers in virginia were without power. crews started out early in the morning to cleanup and restore power. appalachian power said for the most part, ice on trees is to blame >> the entire tree has come down onto the line and we have branches and limbs that have come in contact with the lines. sometimes the power line itself has been on the ground. >> reporter: because the number

does not know when everyone's lights will come back on, but all hands on deck. >> we had additional resources from tennessee and west virginia, and they are on the ground now. >> reporter: i just checked with appalachian power as of a few minutes ago, 24,000 customers without power. now if there is a downed power line, don't go near it. just call 911. if you don't have power, call your power company. live in roanoke, annie andersenlive in roanoke, annie andersen, abc 13 news. >> danner: now a live look at the roads from our v dot camera. >> mark: this is route 460 in lynchburg near handler's mountain road. the roads look pretty good right now. chief meteorologist george flickinger has the late fest you are planning to head out tonight. george. . >> george: mark and danner, the temperatures above freezing and if you head out tonight the temperatures will remain above freezing. looking live over central boulevard in danville where the traffic is moving along smoothly, temps in the 40s and 50s. 51 in danville.

and roanoke, you are at 41. the weather is also dry for nowthe weather is also dry for now, but we are tracking changes. this is a large area of rain with some snow mixed in, which is mainly going to track across the carolinas and south side for us tonight. now what this means in your hourly weather is farther south you drive, the more likely you are going to drive into this rain and snow, but the snow accumulation should be low. temperatures this evening remaining above freezing and below freezing the morning. coming up later, we will let you know when we will see a big warm-up. rock salt one of the rules of getting it off your car. a quick rinse is not enough for long-term damage. corrosion in the undercarriage can wreak havoc from everything from brakes to mufflers. get the underside of that car. that is where the salt can staythat is where the salt can stay. according to lasley, the best place to beat this is a you trip to a drive-thru car wash. washing your car every ten days in the winter rain and shine

>> mark: the latest on the forecast and what to expect as you head out on the roads at wset.com tonight. and like our abc 13 facebook page where we are constantly posting updates as we get them. something we all have and may take for granted, but the most asked-for item among our home list, socks. the lynchburg nonprofit warm streets is partnering with local businesses to help collect those socks. they set up kiosks all over the area and this one at absolute bridal downtown. more than 1,000 socks have already been donated and distributed to local shelters. and the people they see really need them. >> he got frostbite because he didn't have anything covering his feet. we don't want that to happen. we want people to know there is a problem here in lynchburg, but there is also a solution, and that is the community coming together. >> danner: for list of location it is you want kiosk in your own business, go to

>> mark: something as simple as socks. >> danner: you don't think about it, but the number one thing you need really. gone. >> that's insane >> that's insane. it looks authenticit looks authentic.

so you are not the heart of the church, the mission of the church, is to change our world by developing christ followers who love god and love people. everything that we are wrapped up in, everything that we do, everything that ought to drive us, the passion that we ought to have in our hearts is summed up in that statement. we want to change the world. and the new river valley. all right, our abc 13 crew

lynchburg at the hollis milldamlynchburg at the hollis milldam. the sun melting away and the -- coming out as well. a lot of melting at the dam. good news if you were getting ready for the snow. the flipside, we willill have cold temperatures tonight and refreezing out there. >> george: there could be refreezing and this could take place after midnight and tomorrow morning and since we will be near 30 instead of in the 20s, i don't think it will be widespread refreezing. kind of have good news for you because danner gave me a bad look earlier because i mentioned the "s" word, the snow world for tonight. >> mark: i was going to say. >> danner: gave you a look like -- >> george: again, we are going to have some snow. the weather is dry. and nothing showing up along the heart of virginia. this is what we are tracking for you. most of this is south of lynchburg and mainly go through the carolinas and most of this will fall as rain; however, if there is likely going to be snow mixed in if you are

or a long road trip to greensboro, the raleigh durham area into the carolinas. you are going to drive into this rain and if you were headed after midnight, some of this rain will be falling as snow as the temperatures will be cold enough. so a few slippery roads are possible to the south for tonight. right now we have enjoyed a beautiful day looking out over liberty. you can see the vine center. route 460 around liberty, a lot of that snow melting away. we saw the sunshine today, and the temperature warmed up nicely. highs in the upper 40s and right now 45 degrees. the wind is light. around the rest of the area, all of south boston at 51, uva, charlottesville, 50, roanoke and 47 toward blacksburg. cooler toward the mountain. here is what we can expect to see this evening. if you have any dinner plans out toward 8 or 10 p.m., the weather will be dry. as we get closer to midnight, we will see this area light rain and light snow. the bulk of the snow will fall in the mountain and toward

is going to be falling as rain; however, there could be some snow mixed in, and it is possible there could be a small accumulation. you can see it is going to be located near lynchburg, but the bulk of it will be through south side, so this means campbell county, pennsylvania county, halifax, charlotte county and toward martinsville and henry county could you see a small accumulation of snow. when you get going tomorrow morning, it will be all east and out of here and dry weather for your wednesday afternoon. by the time you wake up on wednesday, most of that snow and rain will be out of the part of virginia. tonight, we will see lows eventually falling into the upper 20s to lower 30s. not a hard breeze. barely make the freezing mark. bedford at 30. smith mountain lake at 30. altavista at 32. and south boston at 34. below freezing through 9 a.m. on your wednesday. tomorrow lunchtime in the 40s and 45 and highs reaching the upper 40s for most of us. if you were watching us toward south side, you will see highs

altavista at 50, 53 danville. up to nelson county, amherst county and lexington, you will see highs in the middle 40s. your seven-day forecast, a gradual warm-up over the next few days. thursday looks good. a high of 46. and into the 50s for friday. jumping ahead toward your weekend. both days look good for your outdoor plans. saturday into the 60s. and then on sunday, we will watch this for you. you may need to change this rain chance slightly but look like the bulk of the rain will hold off for monday and tuesday and also on tuesday, there could be some snow mixed in. stay with us for the newest info. >> mark: george, thanks. thousands of your dollars gone in a click.

>> d this just in, lynchburg police have charged the driver of the tractor-trailer that crashed on the expressway this morning. they say 23-year-old john lee of wichita falls, texas, did not get hurt but is charged with reckless driving. lost control crossing a bridge, hit a guardrail, street lamp causing several gallons to spill. tune in for a town hall at wset.com called your voice, your future: millennials in politics. are set to tackle issues like which presidential candidates

young people face today. it is live on you our web site from 7 p.m. to 8 p.m. it is tax season and someone can beat you to the punch and steal your refund. >> josh sternum shows us how easy to take your information and send it in to the tax man. all of us are calling. >> reporter: something missing from steven renee austin's kitchen, the hard wood floors they planned to buy with last year's tax-free refund. >> $8,000 and some change we are waiting on. >> reporter: uncle sam is holding continue to their car because someone else tried to take it and tried to run. >> our data had been compromised. >> reporter: scammers used it to file for their tax refund and our 7 on your side i team knows how easily this happen. >> this is how ease test could happen. >> that is insane.

>> reporter: what was filed was a fake w 2 and they are alarmingly easy to buy. we surfed the web and in city after city, scammers offering their services to help you steal others' money. some call it a novelty. people don't pwolt er. >> people will know that it is real. >> reporter: offering documents all over the internet. >> how much is a w 2. >> reporter: we wouldn't have to supply much. they do all the work, and much of the transaction happens over text with scammers explaining how much they need and we will pay. after finding a virginia seller we sent the basics and did the rest. in just a couple of hours. we did w2s and matching pay stubs in the e-mail with verified information. and it only cost us 200. >> does this look like a real w 2? looks legit? >> the format looks legit. >> reporter: took our paperwork to the academy of accounting professionals.

muster to file taxes, get loans and even rent apartments >> the only person or people that would want to buy something like this is someone who is going to use it, you know, illegally. >> we have seen an absolute explosion of identify theft and fraudulent tax returns. >> reporter: 20,000 fraudulent returns filed in maryland in 20returns filed in maryland in 2015 alone according to comptroller peter franchois. those are the ones caught. and others get through the system until familysystem until families like the austins file and it ends up costing. >> you the victim files for a tax refund and given some crook in miami. we in maryland, we pay their refund again. that's double. >> reporter: you pay twice? >> yes. >> reporter: the same for d.c. and virginia. they are all doubling down on efforts to go after scammers. comptroller franchois has newcomptroller franchois has new legislation to better protect taxpayers and teamed up with other states to share information so when fraud isinformation so when fraud

everybody will know and those that facilitate the fraud is harder. >> technology arms race right now. >> reporter: but to create these dock supplements not necessarily illegal. it doesn't cross that line until they file for fake returns. >> do you think they need to crack down on these people? yes, obviously -- >>reporter: they want these people to pay the price. they are still waiting for their refund, bondertheir refund, wondering how many others will do the same thanks to scammers that play pretend on the internet. >> that honest people would never assume it is that rampant out there. >> eye opening to a lot of people. but very scary. >> good to see that virginia has appear new through really cuts down on that -- at least

>> mark: got to help people. samsung set to announce a new smartphone next week, but guess what, that's not all. among them a pair of smart shoes developed by a start-up called salted venture. the shoes have sensors that can detect your balance and posture and use that information to give you tips on improving things such as your fitness regimen and even your golf swing. >> danner: that is amazing. a kid-friendly tesla. looking at cars for a whooping $499 each.

the cars include working headthe cars include working headlights, spacious interior, and a trunk in the front of the car. and also races 6 miles per hour. preorders are now open and the car ships in may you. >> mark: no way, max turns 4

>> danner: not a tesla. there is an estimated 300 plus million guns in the hands of americans and only one place in the nation tasked at helping law enforcement across the nation trace guns used in crimes. well, i traveled to that place recently for an inside look at what goes on. the atf's national tracing center. what i discovered is an agency trying do 21st run ittrying do 21st century crime fighting using horse and buggy techniques. >> there are technology>> there are technologies out there and processes that are

to try to make this process more efficient, but we are bound by -- by the law and what can and cannot be done when it comes to -- to firearms information.

up advan anythyme, anywhere, award-winning coverage you can count on, this is abc 13 news. a big warm-up this afternoon means roads are in much better shape than they were this time yesterday. a live look from our v dot camera from route 460 in lynchburg. the rain moved out late this morning, and the sun has helped melt a lot of that snow. >> we have team coverage of the aftermath tonight with katie brooke checking road conditionsbrooke checking road conditions. george flickinger has an update on the forecast, and suri crowe saw just how much damage this storm did to your cars.

>> reporter: well, noreen, if you were coming downwards road any time soon, you will notice some mud on the road. this dirt berm behind me collapsed melting quickly in the son and warm temperatures. we drove around the city checking out road conditions and public works have done a great job of getting the roads clean. crews finished up their shift this afternoon and tell me every road is clear at this time. the sun has even dried up some roads and still some possibility that some roads could refreeze. they treated rose with salt and have crews just in case. the city had $150,000 left in their snow removal reserve fundtheir snow removal reserve fund. she haven't got numbers back from this snowstorm but she thinks they will be within the budget and hopes this will be the last storm of the season. >> in this particular snow, it warmed up right after the snow, so that has been very helpful in helping us get cleaned up -- the streets clean up soon sore really depends on the weather