The tax filing season is underway and the scammers are already busy. The IRS has  identified a new scam that began with cybercriminals stealing data from several tax practitioners’ computers and filing fraudulent tax returns.

In a new twist, the fraudulent returns in a few cases used the taxpayers' real bank accounts for the deposit. A woman posing as a debt collection agency official then contacted the taxpayers to say a refund was deposited in error and asked the taxpayers to forward the money to her.

The scheme is likely just the first of many that will be identified this year as the IRS, state tax agencies and tax industry continue to fight back against tax-related identity thieves. Because the Security Summit partners have made inroads against identity theft, cybercriminals have evolved their tactics to focus on tax professionals where they can steal client information. maybe your information.

Thieves know it is more difficult to identify and halt fraudulent tax returns when they are using real client data such as income, dependents, credits and deductions. Generally, criminals find alternative ways to get the fraudulent refunds delivered to themselves rather than the real taxpayers. Tax professionals are reminded that there is a procedure for them to report data thefts to the IRS.

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