New Identity Theft Scam Involving Tax Returns

As we walk out of Winter and head into Spring, a lot of things seem to be happening. And with tax day approaching, it seems there are quite a few problematic issues that are almost inevitable to avoid. Recently, cyber security expert and influencer Rich Tehrani took to Twitter to expose a recent scam where hackers are actually stealing financial aid information from the IRS FASFA. Originally the hackers attempted to portray themselves as students looking to get financial aid. 

And according to the New York Times, this breach can potentially be one of the most destructive breaches in history next to the 2015 tax return incident where hackers took their liberties to new heights and depths, stealing over 300,000 taxpayers information. Shortly after, the IRS admitted that the actual figure was 700,000 instead of 300,000. Can you believe it?

With many fraudulent refunds (obsessive reverse refunding and/or charge backs), according to various sources 8,000 alone are equal to almost $40 million. Money that has yet to be recovered. After the breach was exposed, the IRS took action. 

But, how on earth did the hackers steal the information? It's simple, they took advantage of utilizing the FAFSA tool by swiping tax information. After filing false and fraudulent claims, they were able they were able to get money back. 

This scam has been happening for decades and needs to be stopped. But, will it ever? We can only hope. 


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