. >> reporter: in 2011 the businessman joe bianco waited patiently for a $10,000 tax refund. when he contacted the irs, they said it was paid. >> somebody had filed where they forged a w-2 from wal-mart and claimed a refund, got the refund using my name and social security number. >> reporter: in the past 12 months the irs confirmed that 770,000 cases of refund fraud due to identity theft. up to 50,000 cases the year before. thousands of more are still under investigation. >> reporter: adam levin is the chairman of the identity theft 911. a recovery service for victims. he said that the crime wave is a result of a faster digital irs. >> unfortunately as that process has evolved, security has been compromised. >> reporter: the irs has doubled the number of the i.d. theft caseworkers to 3,000 in 2012. they cracked down on 2,400 cases involving the phony tax preparers, as well as ordinary employees with access to social security numbers, including the bank tellers, hospital workers, even members of the armed services. >> and what have you learned about this identity theft? >> it

. >> reporter: in 2011 joe bianco waited patiently for a $10,000 tax refund. he contacted the irs, it said he had already been paid. >> somebody filed with a forged w-2 from walmart, claimed a refund, got the refund, using my name and social security number. >> reporter: in the past 12 months the irs confirms 770,000 cases of refund fraud due to identity theft up from 250,000 case the year before. thousands more are still under investigation. >> phony w-2 and a social security number and you're in business. >> reporter: adam levin is chairman of identity theft 911. a recovery service for victims. he said the crime wave is a the result of a faster digital irs. >> unfortunately as that process has evolved, security has become compromised. >> reporter: the irs has doubled the number of i.d. theft caseworkers in 2012. it cracked down on 2,400 cases on phony tax preparers as well as ordinary employees with access to social security numbers including bank tellers, hospital workers, and even member of the armed services. what have you learned about this identity thef

. >> reporter: in 2011 businessmen joe bianco waited patiently for a $10,000 tax refund. when he contacted the irs it said it had already been paid. >> somebody had filed with a forged w-2 from wal-mart claimed the refund got the refund, and using my name and social security number. >> in the past 12 months the irs confirmed $770,000 cases of refund fraud due to identity theft up from $2-- 250,000 cases the year before. thousands more are still under investigation. >> phony w-2 and social security number and you're in business. >> adam leffin is chairman of identity theft 911. the recovery service for victims. he says the crime wave is a result of a faster digital irs. >> unfortunately as that process has evolved security has become compromised. >> the irs has doubled the number of i.d. theft case workers to 3,000 in 2012. they crack down on 2400 cases involving phony tax preparers. as well as ode employee os with access to social security numbers including bank tellers hospital workers and even members of the armed services. >> what have you learned about this identity t