Tag Archive for Data Breach

Still Unsure If You Were Affected In The Equifax Breach? Plus, Ways To Protect Your Data

The recent Equifax breach affects over 143 million American taxpayers.

As you might imagine, this could wreak havoc for those affected and you may not even know you’ve been affected until you go to file your taxes next year.

The data breach gave hackers access to the Social Security numbers, birth dates, addresses, driver’s license numbers and credit card numbers of people around the world, and as mentioned above 143 million American taxpayers. Criminals can use all of that date to steal identities, so there are sure to be consequences in the short term and long term. One of those long-term ramifications could be that a criminal will use your personal information to file a bogus tax return in 2018.

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Will The IRS Tax Return Data Breach Impact You?

As you no doubt have heard on the news, the IRS recently announced that cyber thieves have gained access to over 100,000 taxpayers’ tax return information. According to a number of news sources, that breach has been traced to Russia.

The criminals did not actually gain access to IRS secure databases by hacking into the IRS computer system. Instead, they simply used an online tool provided by the IRS through which taxpayers are able to obtain transcripts of their previously filed tax returns. That service, called “Get Transcript,” is available to anyone who, with the correct information, can access an individual’s transcripts. The problem is this: the information needed to access “Get Transcript” is readily available from other online sources, which made it easy for the criminals to access a large number of taxpayer accounts. Read More

Written by | Posted in IRS • Tax Fraud/Evasion/Crimes