Taxing times

This is more than a little scary:

An East Chicago businesswoman got a hefty tax return this year -- nearly $300,000 -- but federal officials say the money belongs to her clients.

Francesca Foster, 32, and Rosetta Yvonne Buchanan, 35, face charges of stealing information from about 60 clients to file false tax returns, according to a criminal complaint filed Friday in the U.S. District Court in Hammond.

Foster worked last year at an H&R Block in East Chicago and had access to clients' personal information, such as their Social Security numbers, according to the complaint.

Foster allegedly used the information to file early tax returns through an online company this year.

I've always done my own taxes, no matter how complicated or confusing the task became. I may have, through ignorance, screwed myself out of thousands of dollars over the years, but at least I never lost any money to fraudulent thieves.