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NY: Speedy Tax Refunds, but to Identity Thieves, Suit Says
From: kirniki <kirniki () gmail com>
Date: Thu, 8 Apr 2010 23:00:24 -0400
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/04/08/speedy-tax-refunds-via-hr-block-but-to-identity-thieves-suit-charges/ Last year, Kevin Johns, a construction worker in the Bronx, did his taxes at the H&R Block store on Riverdale Avenue that he has used for the past 20 years or so. The next day, though, he got a call from the tax preparer: his return was rejected because he had already filed. Or at least, someone had filed in his name. That someone helped himself or herself to a $8,499 refund. [..] Both Ms. Hawa and Mr. Johns said they were told by police detectives investigating their cases that at least 20 customers of the branch and possibly many more had been robbed by identity thieves who were very likely H&R Block employees. Both said that the fraudulent filers used their previous year’s adjusted gross income as proof of identity. “There’s only place that could have come from,” Mr. Johns said: “H&R Block.” On Thursday, lawyers for Mr. Johns and Ms. Hawa filed a class-action suit in the Bronx, alleging that the company failed to take steps to protect its customers’ security despite previous allegations (and lawsuits filed in Arizona, Michigan and Illinois) against other H&R Block outlets. The suit came on the same day, coincidentally, that federal prosecutors announced fraud charges against 26 tax preparers from the Bronx, Manhattan and New Jersey — none from H&R Block — accused of collecting tens of millions of dollars in refunds through identity theft over a nine-year period. [..] _______________________________________________ Dataloss-discuss Mailing List (dataloss-discuss () datalossdb org) Archived at http://seclists.org/dataloss/ Get business, compliance, IT and security staff on the same page with CREDANT Technologies: The Shortcut Guide to Understanding Data Protection from Four Critical Perspectives. The eBook begins with considerations important to executives and business leaders. http://www.credant.com/campaigns/ebook-chpt-one-web.php
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- NY: Speedy Tax Refunds, but to Identity Thieves, Suit Says kirniki (Apr 08)