COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Ohio officials say they are seeing a significant increase this year in attempts by scammers to steal state money through fraudulent income tax returns.

The state's Department of Taxation says fraud attempts have been up this year, though the amount of money intercepted on those returns has dropped compared to 2014.

The agency says that through last month, it intercepted more than 168,000 fraudulent returns. That's more than twice the 64,000 returns blocked during all of 2014.

Officials say fraudsters obtained $28 million in improper tax refunds last year using stolen personal information to file state returns. Department analysts say more than 90 percent of illegal returns were blocked.

The tax department has recovered about $4 million and seeking to get more back with help from banks and law enforcement.