More than 100K taxpayers’ e-file credentials stolen in IRS malware attack

In all, the hackers made unauthorized queries against 464,000 social security numbers but succeeded against only 101,000 of them.

Undersheriff Frank Baker said he was unsure of exactly how many complaints the department has received so far this tax season, but said there have been “numerous” calls regarding the IRS scam.

The tax agency wasn’t so lucky a year ago when it was hit by a data breach, in which hackers pilfered tax information on more than 100,000 Americans.

Over the course of the past year, as part of the Security Summit initiative, the IRS partnered with states and the tax industry to enhance coordination and create a more secure system for taxpayers.

Another benefit of preparing your taxes early: You may be able to get a better deal on college financial aid. Free File can also help with the health care law tax provisions. Tax software will help you make this payment, or you can view other payment options at IRS.gov. We have over 30 years of experience specializing in IRS Tax Audits and International Tax Matters, including: International Tax Planning/Tax Compliance and International Asset Protection. The IRS said the hack attack is not related to a system-wide computer failure last week that kept the agency from accepting tax returns. Make sure you are not giving out personal information to the wrong people.

Some of the most common mistakes on tax returns are missing numbers (like Social Security or bank account numbers for direct deposit), simple math errors and misspellings ( source if you choose to use fact: Bankrate.com). Tax-software users will be required to create a password with a minimum of eight characters, answer at least three security questions and verify their e-mail address with a personal identification number.

If someone does have to pay, it should only be sent with a federal tax return or in response to a letter from the IRS.

“Do you really need to provide it to your doctor?” The breach occurred shortly before a mysterious outage disabled electronic tax return filing for two days.

According to an IRS statement released yesterday, the agency is reporting that, about a month ago, an unknown assailant launched an automated attack that abused the E-filing PIN generator. The document will alert the IRS that your return could be compromised.