Free Republic

IRS Commissioner John Koskinen was in the hot seat on Capitol Hill yesterday over a massive data breach and hacking of highly sensitive taxpayer information, including social security numbers. A number of taxpayers whose information was stolen have also lost their identities. Information and testimony given by Inspector General Russell George revealed the IRS was given multiple warnings and recommendations about how to prevent an attack or breach. The IRS failed to implement all of the recommendations given.

Hackers broke into the U.S. government personnel office and stole identifying information of at least 4 million federal workers. The Department of Homeland Security said in a statement Thursday that at the beginning of May, data from the Office of Personnel Management and the Interior Department was compromised.

Another hack, another claim of inevitability. It is frustrating to read about the IRS breach and see it declared sophisticated. The following quote, from the IRS commissioner to CNN, is just outright infuriating: “It was an attack the agency wasn't well suited to combat, IRS Commissioner Koskinen said. ‘We're dealing with criminals with a lot of money and using expensive equipment and hiring a lot of smart people.’”

As looted prescription drugs flood Baltimore streets, fueling a surge in violence, pharmacy chain Rite Aid warned customers Wednesday that their personal medical information could be on the streets, too.. Store officials said the labels on prescriptions stolen during the late April riots included patient names, addresses and the names of medication, but not other sensitive data such as Social Security numbers or credit card numbers. The alert nonetheless raised concern among privacy advocates who said the information could be used for fraud. Rite Aid has hired a risk management firm to help protect customers from identity theft. The risk...

LAS CRUCES, N.M. -- Court records indicate sensitive personal data for an unknown number of Doña Ana County voters — particularly those ages 19 or 20 — was compromised in a binational identity theft and check-cashing scam allegedly spearheaded locally by a county clerk's office document technician. Maria Ceniceros, 42, of Anthony, New Mexico, admitted to federal agents that she'd picked through the Doña Ana County voter registration database records on her work computer to glean "names, birthdates, and Social Security numbers" to supply to scam organizers in Mexico, according to court records. Federal authorities believe the data was then...

Your Social Security Number can be stolen in under an hour. And hundreds of website run by the government, universities and financial institutions among other companies are at fault. ... ... ... It works essentially in the following way. Is my victim's SSN 123-45-6789? No! Is my victim's SSN 123-45-6790? No! Is my victim's SSN 123-45-6788? Yes! ... ... ... Very commonly all the hacker needs is: A victim’s last name A victim's birth date A vulnerable website the victim uses. ... ... ... Are any big players exposing SSN’s? I have a list of hundreds of websites who are...

Hackers gained access to personal information of 104,000 taxpayers this spring, downloading an online service the Internal Revenue Service uses to give Americans access to their past tax returns, the agency said Tuesday. The information included several years’ worth of returns and other tax information on file with the IRS, Commissioner John Koskinen said in a press conference. The thieves hacked into a system called “Get Transcript,” clearing a security screen that requires users to know the taxpayer’s Social Security number, date of birth, address and tax filing status. Those who successfully downloaded the transcripts gained access to information from...

Incoming Boston University sociology professor Saida Grundy was convicted of a misdemeanor in 2008 after she made a fake account for another woman on an adult website. Grundy was a graduate student at the University of Michigan at the time. Grundy first gained widespread attention this month because of tweets in which she called white, college-aged males a “problem population.” She’s most recently been in the news due to comments she posted on a Facebook thread in February, when she argued with a woman who’d been sexually assaulted. ... Grundy was charged with felony counts of identity theft and using...

Nearly everyone knows the dangers of identity theft, where someone steals your credit cards, bank information, or Social Security number to rip you off. But a new kind of crime is rising that could put you in even greater danger. It’s medical identity theft, and it’s on the rise in the U.S. According to report this month by the Medical Identity Fraud Alliance, which tracks such crimes, 2.3 million Americans were victimized by medical ID thieves in 2014 — with total damages adding up to $20 billion. That represents a 22 percent increase in the number of cases in just...

AT&T settles with FCC over customer data that was stolen from data centers overseas and used to unlock stolen mobile phones. AT&T has reached a $25 million settlement with the Federal Communications Commission over stolen customer data from three international call centers. The data breaches took place at contracted call centers in Mexico, Colombia and the Philippines, and involved the unauthorized disclosure of almost 280,000 U.S. customers' names, full or partial Social Security numbers and unauthorized access to protected account-related data. The FCC said the information obtained from these breaches was used to unlock codes for stolen phones. Workers at...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)ROSWELL, GA (CBS46) - A Taco Bell cashier was caught robbing customers right in front of their eyes, according to police. Authorities said when customers would pull up to the drive-through window and hand over their credit card, Rosetta Brinson would pretend the card reader didn't work, telling customers she had to manually enter their number. Her crimes were caught on surveillance video. Brinson snapped screen shots of customers' information and would later ring up charges on their accounts. Heather Tinsley, a customer, couldn't believe it. "It's disturbing actually,” Tinsley said. “That's something you really shouldn't do." Jose Vega, a...

MADISON, Wis. — Could it be a case of John Doe collateral damage? At least one target of Wisconsin’s politically charged John Doe investigation — whose home was raided and whose personal information was seized — tells Wisconsin Reporter they’re a victim of identity theft. The individual spoke on condition of anonymity because the probe comes with a strict gag order. Targets who speak publicly about the John Doe could go to jail. Wisconsin Reporter obtained a copy of an Internal Revenue Service letter alerting the subject to the identify theft problem. The letter, titled, “Identity Verification Service,” advises that...

Although the worldwide population of persons older than 112 years of age is estimated to be only three dozen, an investigation by the inspector general revealed that the Social Security Administration (SSA) has active accounts for 6.5 million persons over that age. Obviously, there aren’t really 6.5 million persons that old living in America. Obviously, many recipients who have been long dead are regularly mailed benefits checks by SSA. Obviously, millions of identities have been stolen and are being used to rack up potential benefits. Sens. Ron Johnson (R-Wis) and Tom Carper (D-Del), who head the Senate committee that oversees...

There are more than 6.5 million Americans over the age of 112, according to the Social Security Administration. If you are wondering about the accuracy of this count, you are not alone.After a man attempted to open bank accounts using active Social Security Numbers from both 1869 and 1893, the Office of the Inspector General decided to audit the SSA. They found that as of Oct. 2013, only 35 known individuals over the age of 112 are still living worldwide.The SSA’s Numerical Identification System (often shortened to Numident), contains all the Social Security Numbers tracing back to 1936 when they were...

Anthony David is in trouble after he allegedly stole his neighbor's credit card and charged things like meals, lawyers fees, oh and he did take the neighbors to a Tampa Bay Buccaneers game on their credit card.

Illegal aliens may enjoy a free pass on identity theft due to a new investigative policy at California’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).

Last month, Senator Dianne Feinstein and other Democrats on the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence released the executive summary of their final report investigating the CIA's controversial detention and interrogation program. As part of their study, the Democrats compiled twenty case studies, which were intended to address claims made by the CIA regarding the efficacy of its interrogations. One of those case studies focused on the identification and arrest of Ali Saleh Kahlah al Marri, who was freed from a US prison just days ago. Al Marri served as a "sleeper" operative for al Qaeda inside the US in 2001....

If you have a recently issued credit or debit card, there is a very good chance it has an RFID chip in it that will transmit your card information to any nearby reader. Many of the newer model smartphones are RFID enabled and make it possible for someone standing next to you in line at the grocery store or at the train station to steal your identity and your money. Just wanted to raise awareness of this risk and create an opportunity to share ideas on how to mitigate this risk. I disabled the chip in my cards with a...

resident Obama is poised to show his "compassion" this week by granting work cards to an estimated five million illegal immigrants through an imperial executive order. As for the vast, untold number of law-abiding citizens whose identities have been stolen by foreign law-breakers, two words: Tough luck. Social Security card fraudsters have made out like bandits thanks to the White House. Their victims are about to get kicked in the teeth again. Two years ago, when Obama launched his first administrative amnesty known as "DACA" (Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals), the White House gave aid and comfort to illegal alien...

Federal Court Says the Government Can Impersonate You on Social Media — and There’s Not Much You Can Do About It Imagine finding out you have a Facebook page that you didn’t actually create. It has your name, your private photos and all of your personal information — none of which you posted. That’s the discovery New York resident Sondra Prince made. Prince, formerly Sondra Arquiett, alleges that after she was arrested on drug charges in 2010, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration used the photos on her confiscated cellphone to create Facebook profile in her name and without her consent....