5 Ways the IRS Scammers Could Have Stolen All Those Tax Returns
By Adam Levin, Jun. 7, 2015, ABC News
Last week, the Internal Revenue Service revealed that a group of organized criminals effectively walked through their front door and used an application on its “Get Transcript” site to pore over the past tax returns of more than 100,000 Americans. According to several news reports, the stolen information was deployed to commit tax fraud, with an estimated take of up to $50 million in bogus tax refunds before the IRS discovered the ploy.
We’re confident that these are not amateurs,” John Koskinen, the IRS commissioner, told the New York Times. “These actually are organized crime syndicates that not only we but everybody in the financial industry are dealing with.”
But if I may be so bold, isn’t the IRS supposed to be better at this? It is, after all, the chief tax collector for the U.S. government, for Heaven’s sake. It’s frustrating that the government isn’t better, but it’s not terribly shocking that scammers got through, considering the well-practiced foe the agency is facing.
Last week, the Internal Revenue Service revealed that a group of organized criminals effectively walked through their front door and used an application on its “Get Transcript” site to pore over the past tax returns of more than 100,000 Americans. According to several news reports, the stolen information was deployed to commit tax fraud, with an estimated take of up to $50 million in bogus tax refunds before the IRS discovered the ploy.
We’re confident that these are not amateurs,” John Koskinen, the IRS commissioner, told the New York Times. “These actually are organized crime syndicates that not only we but everybody in the financial industry are dealing with.”
But if I may be so bold, isn’t the IRS supposed to be better at this? It is, after all, the chief tax collector for the U.S. government, for Heaven’s sake. It’s frustrating that the government isn’t better, but it’s not terribly shocking that scammers got through, considering the well-practiced foe the agency is facing.
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