WASHINGTON, Aug. 17 (UPI) — A data breach in which the personal information of thousands of taxpayers was illegally accessed in May is more than three times bigger than originally reported, the IRS said Monday.
In May, IRS Commissioner John Koskinen said the tax information of more than 100,000 was accessed through the Internal Revenue Service website’s “Get Transcript” feature. The IRS has now identified another 220,000 individuals whose information was illegally accessed, and some 280,000 cases in which hackers tried to access information but were unable, NPR reported.
The hackers used stolen social security numbers and other personal information to try to access the “Get Transcript” feature in which taxpayers can download five years of tax return information. The unauthorized access happened between February and May.
The IRS said it is reaching out to taxpayers whose accounts were affected and is offering credit monitoring. The IRS has since shut down the “Get Transcript” link.
