Over 104,000 United States taxpayers recently had their personal info stolen from an IRS website. This was part of a complex scheme by hackers to claim tax refunds dishonestly.
Web hackers stole the information from an IRS online system named "Get Transcript," according to Sacramento Bee. This allows U.S. taxpayers to access tax filings from past years, such as IRS tax returns.
The thieves' hacking skills were shown when they used identity theft to clear the IRS site's security screen. This required taxpayer information such as date of birth, tax filing status, and Social Security number.
John Koskinen, IRS Commissioner, said that the hackers were not amateurs. Instead, they were part of "crime syndicates."
The IRS has informed the IRS taxpayers whose personal information was accessed. It is issuing credit-monitoring services to them.
The IRS has not stated publically if it believes the thieves are foreign-based criminals, or how they obtained the personal info to breach the IRS security.
In recent years identity thieves have increased their efforts to claim fake tax refunds. The U.S. agency paid out fraudulent refunds worth $5.8 billion in 2013.
Congress is demanding that the IRS supply information regarding the security breach. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) said that it needs explanations from the IRS about the hack.
The IRS reported that the online thieves tried to access data from 200,000 taxpayers. During the 2015 tax season, 23 million U.S. taxpayers downloaded transcripts from Get Transcript.
New computer filters are being used by the IRS to halt several identity theft attempts by amateur hackers. This year the IRS has stopped nearly 3 million suspicious tax returns, and it estimates that $50 million in fake tax refunds were claimed.
The Get Transcript IRS site was shut down last week, according to ARS Technica.