Inside The Industry: Cybermafia Steals Personal Data through IRS Website
A “sophisticated” organized crime syndicate used the IRS website to steal tax forms full of personal financial information on 104,000 taxpayers, the agency said Tuesday. Until the IRS discovered this latest data leak, its website provided a service called “Get Transcript.” It’s an easy way to download several years of tax forms for tasks like applying for a mortgage, or college financial aid.
An unnamed cybermafia used this app to download forms full of personal information. They posed as legitimate taxpayers, and tried to download forms on 200,000 people between February and May. They got away with half of them, the IRS said. The crooks used about 15,000 of them to claim tax refunds in other people’s names.
But the potential damage is worse. IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said he believes the criminals’ true mission was to gather vast amounts of personal information. Armed with that info, fraudsters can open bank accounts, credit lines and steal tax refunds in the future.
IRS law enforcement agents are now hunting for the fraudsters who did this, and the agency’s own internal investigator is looking into how this happened.
The liability and risk exposures stemming from business websites can be tremendous. What was once the worry of publishers is now the worry of every business maintaining and upgrading a website. This means unless you have specific Cyber Liability in place, you could be facing a number of liability issues. Issues of accuracy, originality, and false advertising are all quite common when it comes to Cyber Liability. Online business happens at the speed of light – don’t wait until it’s too late.
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