Last year many Americans were disappointed when they found out that their tax return had been stolen by hackers. Now, it looks like history is repeating itself all over again as they once again target the 2016 tax refunds. Some of the taxpayer identification numbers have already been compromised.
“The ‘Electronic Filing PINs,’ meant to ensure information is safe, would enable hackers to file fraudulent tax returns,” according to CNET.
“As the number of tax returns being filed online has continued to rise — it’s expected to be 80 percent of the 150 million returns filed this season — so too has the number of attempts by hackers to file fake returns and steal people’s refunds.”
The report claims that the software used to carry out the hack contained over 450,000 stolen Social Security numbers. A little less than a quarter of those numbers were used in successful attempts.
“The SSNs were ‘stolen elsewhere outside the IRS,’ the agency said, adding that ‘no personal taxpayer data was compromised or disclosed’ by its systems,” according to CNET.
“The agency said it will notify people affected by the attack and will mark their accounts to guard against identity theft.”
These attacks on tax refunds are growing each year and the documents you used when filing for your return has some of the most vital personal information necessary to retrieve your EFP’s. It’s a difficult fix and there is no really good way of going about it other than truly adding extra caution during what looks to be a tumultuous tax season.
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