There are many compelling reasons why tax returns are valuable to hackers, but all are related to monetary gain. Tax returns are dense with personal information, including social security numbers, dependents’ PII, property addresses, and bank account information. This information can be sold on the dark web or used in future social engineering attacks that could lead to account takeovers and ransomware. The most lucrative way to monetize tax returns is to file fraudulent returns for refunds. Stolen Identity Refund Fraud (SIRF) is a million-dollar business run by organized cybercriminals with millions of fraudulent tax returns filed every year.
Once a hacker has the PII from a tax return, it can be used for SIRF, financial theft, medical theft, and it can be used or sold for spear phishing, account takeovers, ransomware, and it can even be used to start a cyberattack on your place of work. According to an article in thestreet.com, cybercriminals are attracted to tax scams because “cybercrime groups have learned that tax season is a real bonanza and their efforts only require social engineering to pull off the scam.” The article reminds users, “The IRS does not contact taxpayers by sending an email, text or social media to request personal or financial information.”
TechRepublic highlights the most common scams in their article warning consumers and businesses of common scams during tax season. “One of the most common scams involves criminals posing as tax…
