The popular tax software TurboTax has heightened its security after a wave of fraudulent activity last week.
According to its parent company, Intuit, a large number of fraudulent tax returns were filed last week using stolen personal data.
The company believes the victims’ personal data was stolen elsewhere – possibly during the Anthem Inc, breach – then used to file fraudulent tax returns in the victims’ names.
More from the Associated Press:
Intuit, the company behind TurboTax, said it resumed filing of state returns at about 6 p.m. Eastern time Friday with increased anti-fraud measures, a day after halting the process when state agencies reported a rise in filings with stolen personal information.
Most victims found out that a fraudulent tax return was submitted in their name when they received a rejection notice after filing their returns, said Intuit spokeswoman Julie Miller.
There haven’t been issues with federal returns to date because the Internal Revenue Service has implemented stronger fraud detection policies, Miller said.
Intuit is working with security company Palantir to investigate the problem.
So far, there has been no security breach of Intuit’s systems, the company said. Instead, it believes personal information was stolen elsewhere and used to file returns on TurboTax.
Miller linked the problem to recent security breaches at large companies. Just this week, Blue Cross Blue Shield insurer Anthem Inc. said hackers gained access to the Social Security numbers, names, addresses and other personal information of about 80 million people. It follows other security breaches at JPMorgan Chase and several retailers, including Home Depot and Target.
The Better Business Bureau has released this list of steps to take if you fall victim to identity theft.
Photo by Mike Chaput via Flickr CC License
