This week on The Perfect Scam.

I constantly was waking up in the middle of the night during the day.

I was shaking a little bit.

I was just totally distraught.

My mind was just spinning every day.

I was just trying to hold it together.

You know, I just go and I can't express how sick my stomach felt doing this.

Because you don't, you know, sometimes the government doesn't do the right thing and clear you properly or clear you right away.

And I'm thinking, oh my God, if they don't find evidence that I'm innocent, then what?

Am I going to jail? that I'm innocent, then what?

Am I going to jail?

Welcome back to the perfect scam.

I'm your host, Bob Sullivan.

Imagine you've just had everything stolen from you,

every last penny from your checking account, your retirement accounts,

taken by a criminal. You're staring into that abyss, wondering how you'll survive in the future,

buy food, pay any of your bills. And then, at your lowest moment, one more bill arrives. From the IRS,

you owe taxes on the money that was stolen from you,

tens of thousands of dollars in taxes. How can this possibly be real? Unfortunately, it's not my imagination or a nightmare that you can wake up from. It's all too real. In fact, it's a trend.

Scam victims around the country are getting hit with huge tax bills thanks to what seems to

unintended consequences of a change in the tax code a few years ago.

There are proposed legislative fixes for this shocking state of affairs.

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