It appears that the IRS is aware that they exist! “Ghost Preparers” are those who charge fees for tax preparation but refuse to and don’t sign returns.
To help track down these culprits, the IRS have sent mailings to taxpayers, who’s tax returns are somewhat complicated and may be beyond the novice level of preparation.
The IRS plans to do another mailing later this year to taxpayers whose returns it suspects were prepared by someone else. If they paid someone who didn’t sign the return, IRS will ask them to disclose the truth and reveal who the preparer was. As many as a million taxpayers may be contacted.