Post by Logan on Feb 18, 2016 3:37:15 GMT -6
A tax-fraud scheme that affected thousands of Oregonians was much larger than originally believed, federal officials announced Wednesday.
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Oregon said investigators now suspect that a six-person crew based on the East Coast stole the personal information of more 250,000 people, then used the data to seek $25 million in tax refunds. Investigators believe the scheme generated $4.7 million in profits from at least April 2013 to May 2015 — $2.7 million more than revealed last May.
The group obtained the names, addresses and Social Security numbers of 83,000 people — including 40,500 Oregonians, by targeting a database owned by CICS Employment Services, a Lincoln City background-check company.
CICS discovered the breach in January 2015 and alerted officials in 15 states. An attorney for CICS told The Oregonian/OregonLive last year that the company notified affected customers a month later, and offered identity theft remediation and credit monitoring services for a year.
Read more: www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2016/02/40500_oregonians_hit_by_25_mil.html
The U.S. Attorney's Office in Oregon said investigators now suspect that a six-person crew based on the East Coast stole the personal information of more 250,000 people, then used the data to seek $25 million in tax refunds. Investigators believe the scheme generated $4.7 million in profits from at least April 2013 to May 2015 — $2.7 million more than revealed last May.
The group obtained the names, addresses and Social Security numbers of 83,000 people — including 40,500 Oregonians, by targeting a database owned by CICS Employment Services, a Lincoln City background-check company.
CICS discovered the breach in January 2015 and alerted officials in 15 states. An attorney for CICS told The Oregonian/OregonLive last year that the company notified affected customers a month later, and offered identity theft remediation and credit monitoring services for a year.
Read more: www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2016/02/40500_oregonians_hit_by_25_mil.html