BREAKING: IRS Hacked!

This is breaking now, but, my guess is that hackers gained tax info on many more than 100,000 taxpayers.
This is a nightmare scenario to American taxpayers, as well as the IRS...which is already under severe scrutiny for corruption, mismanagement and downright incompetence.

APNewsBreak: IRS Says Thieves Stole Tax Info From 100,000

Thieves used an online service provided by the IRS to gain access to information from more than 100,000 taxpayers, the agency said Tuesday.

The information included tax returns and other tax information on file with the IRS.

The IRS said the thieves accessed a system called "Get Transcript." In order to access the information, the thieves cleared a security screen that required knowledge about the taxpayer, including Social Security number, date of birth, tax filing status and street address.

"The IRS notes this issue does not involve its main computer system that handles tax filing submission; that system remains secure," the agency said in a statement.

The IRS said thieves targeted the system from February to mid-May. The service has been temporarily shut down.

"In all, about 200,000 attempts were made from questionable email domains, with more than 100,000 of those attempts successfully clearing authentication hurdles," the agency said. "During this filing season, taxpayers successfully and safely downloaded a total of approximately 23 million transcripts."

Tax returns can include a host of personal information that can help someone steal an identity, including Social Security numbers and birthdates of dependents and spouses. However, the IRS said the thieves appeared to already have a lot of personal information about the victims.

The IRS said it is notifying taxpayers whose information was accessed.

abcnews.go.com...

a reply to: IAMTAT

Well the good news is they didn't get it from the main computer system. That makes SO much difference. [/sarcasm]

a reply to: IAMTAT

We must assume that this happens all the time with all data.

Perhaps the collection of every intimate detail of everybody's lives including but, not limited to, health, finance and political orientation isn't such a great idea after all.

I sure am glad we didn't jump the gun and centralize all those actionable intelligence units into one mega-Orwellian monstrosity and give the keys to unaccountable bureaucrats.

We really dodged a big one, lemme tells ya!

Oh how clumsy of them to allow something like this to happen. Russia or China? Or some spotty teen?

An Internal Revenue Service that does not exist can never be hacked.

This crud agency should go the way of the dodo.

why couldn't they have planted a worm that infected the whole shebang and fried the sysytem.
then maybe they would go to a better tax system.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
An Internal Revenue Service that does not exist can never be hacked.

This crud agency should go the way of the dodo.

I totally agree

the thieves cleared a security screen that required knowledge about the taxpayer, including Social Security number, date of birth, tax filing status and street address.

Wonder if they used info from a previous hacked site in order to pass security. Although truth isn't always a strong point with government info release so some might have just hacked on in bypassing the security.

a reply to: IAMTAT

Noooooo, no, no, I have not gotten my return yet, is supposed to get in the bank by tomorrow.



What that means, I am not getting anything now?

a reply to: marg6043

It means that someone may have stolen your personal information and use it to open credit cards or get loans or other things, and you'll be responsible for paying them.

a reply to: Zaphod58

They already did, it took me a year to get my money back and clear my name.

Not to sound ignorant. But I still didn't get my tax return. It's a big one.
Will this affect my NOT GETTING MONEY BACK?
Is this a Scapegoat?
I don't trust the IRS. Are they completely broke? They did say a couple month back. That tax returns will be slow this year due to staffing. Now this. I smell a rat.

Why can't someone hack the IRS and delete debts. Come on hackers... at least do something productive that people can actually cheer for.

We had someone file a false claim in our name this year.

We have H&R do our taxes and the lady said it is very common.

When we submitted electronically it said we already filed.

What a PITA.

This doesn't surprise me at all, only I would bet my house it was many more than 100,000.

a reply to: roadgravel

Sounds more like Illegal immigrants needed to vote in the elections..... just got their U.S. citizenship.
( off to the bank to change my numbers)( close down online transactions )

Yippeee!

a reply to: EternalSolace

Didn't they erase debt in some country a few years back?

From the IRS site...

You need to provide your name, SSN, date of birth, filing status and the street address you used on the last federal tax return you filed. You’ll also need to answer a few personal identity verification questions that only you can answer, such as a prior address or phone number, car or home loan information, etc.

You can enter as a guest but you’ll need to verify your identity each time you use Get Transcript Online. We limit the number of authentication attempts you can make over a short time period.

Must not be that hard to defeat or the data was for people just starting to file returns with little of no history.

Do they think 50,000 requests from China or the Ukraine is valid.

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus
An Internal Revenue Service that does not exist can never be hacked.

This crud agency should go the way of the dodo.

Exactly! The IRS is totally unnecessary. There isn't supposed to be an income tax to start with. That's what sales taxes were meant to do. No complicated paperwork, and everyone pays sales taxes on every retail purchase.

a reply to: Bigburgh

You sent your return and looking for your refund.

I filed an extension and pretty much figure we all have lost our info to several hackers on many fronts. I wonder what the government is cooking up to replace SS #s and credit scores. Clearly there is abundant evidence that our credit scores are compromised beyond repair.

a reply to: marg6043

And if your information was stolen here, it will happen again.