WASHINGTON — An IRS computer breach in which thieves stole information from thousands of taxpayers is more than double what the agency disclosed originally. An additional 220,000 potential victims had information stolen from an IRS website as part of a sophisticated scheme to use stolen identities to claim fraudulent tax refunds, the IRS said Monday. The revelation brings the total number of potential victims to 334,000.
The breach also started earlier than investigators first thought. The agency disclosed the breach in May.
The thieves accessed a system where taxpayers can get returns from previous years. Thieves cleared a security screen that required Social Security number, date of birth, tax filing status and street address, the IRS said. The agency believes thieves were trying to get more information so they fraudulently could claim future tax refunds.
