Every year, tax season gives way to a fresh wave of identity theft-related crimes that affect millions of Americans. In 2015, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission tracked a whopping 47% increase in identity theft complaints. Tax refund fraud was a major contributor to this spike, with FTC Chairwoman Edith Ramirez naming tax refund fraud as [...]
The IRS experienced a breach that is changing the way businesses and consumers think about personal information. Reporters attribute the IRS breach to a crime syndicate in Russia, who used personal information obtained elsewhere to exploit the Get Transcript feature on the IRS website. They successfully exploited 104,000 individuals and filed nearly $50 million in [...]
As we approach the 2014 tax filing deadline, many taxpayers gearing up to file their taxes may find that someone else has already fraudulently filed for them – and have cashed in their refund check. During the 2013 tax filing period, $5.8 billion was paid in identity theft refund costs, according to the U.S. Accountability [...]
Protecting your identity isn’t as cut and dry as it was before the digital age. Before the internet, identity thieves would find personal data by hunting through the garbage for sensitive documents, phishing for private information via phone rather than email or purchasing personal data from unscrupulous store employees.Now, with advances in technology, identity thieves [...]
On January 31, the IRS will start processing income tax returns. This day also marks the beginning of one of the busiest times of year for identity thieves looking to cash in by filing false returns.Tax identity theft is a growing issue. In 2010, almost 15 percent of all identity theft complaints to the FTC [...]
