The IRS has been doling out billions of dollars in fraudulent tax refunds to identity thieves, according to a report released Thursday.

The agency failed to prevent 1.5 million potentially fraudulent tax returns from being processed last year — resulting in refunds totaling more than $5.2 billion, according to an audit conducted by the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

While the IRS successfully detected 938,664 identity-theft related tax returns and blocked $6.5 billion in fraudulent refunds from being issued last year, the inspector general said it is “extremely troubling” that so many others slipped through the cracks.

Source: CNN