Government Releases Information on Online Taxpayer Identity Theft

Posted on June 27, 2016

The IRS previously offered an online service called IRS Get Transcript Online where taxpayers could obtain their IRS transcripts of account.

The Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration recently provided updated numbers regarding the victims of identity theft using the IRS Get Transcript Online service. In total, there was an astounding 1,235,619.00 attempts to access taxpayer accounts, of which 700,132.00 attempts were successful. This figure is nearly double the amount previously reported.

The IRS took down the Get Transcript Online service on May 21, 2015, when it realized that taxpayer accounts had been hacked. At the same time this report was issued, the IRS announced that it had relaunched the IRS Get Transcript Online service with a more rigorous e-authentication process to increase protection from identity thieves.

To access the new Get Transcript Online service, taxpayers must have an email address, a text-enabled cell phone and specific financial account information. The IRS will send verification, activation or security codes via email and text. We are pleased that the IRS has increased its security. However, we still have grave concern for the 700,132.00 taxpayers whose accounts were hacked.