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IRS says thieves stole tax info from 100,000

washingtonpost.com

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Re: IRS says thieves stole tax info from 100,000

#31

Post by scrollaway »

__z wrote: post #28
scrollaway wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a french citizen, and on behalf of everybody I know who doesn't live in the US (and some that do), the idea that knowing somebody's SSN basically puts you in control of their life and gives you the ability to ruin it is unbelievably ridiculous.

Someone fraudulently used my social security number. It is such a sick and terrible feeling knowing that your number is "out there" and can be used by anyone for a whole host of things. It feels horrible and really, really violating.

I'm really sorry to hear that. Being a victim of an ill-designed system you're forced to be a part of is not a great feeling. :/

Re: IRS says thieves stole tax info from 100,000

#32

Post by ceejayoz »

revelation wrote: post #29

Something is wrong with the wording here. Thieves stole the tax info of 100,000 but they stole it from the IRS. Make no mistake: IRS needs to be held responsible for this. It is their fault.

Why is it necessarily their fault?

I'd suspect the information needed to access the tax returns was obtained via phishing or a data breach elsewhere like a tax preparation service.

Re: IRS says thieves stole tax info from 100,000

#33

Post by acdha »

vinhboy wrote: post #17

I'll never understand why our politicians continue to cut funding to the one organization that could help the government save AND make more money. Not to mention save all of us from the headache of things like this.

You assume that the goal is to make society better. Currently one of the two major parties has aggressively staked out the position that government cannot work and should be privatized – from that perspective dysfunction is a goal, not a problem.

I liked Adam Gopnik's summation last week:

“What we have, uniquely in America, is a political class, and an entire political party, devoted to the idea that any money spent on public goods is money misplaced, not because the state goods might not be good but because they would distract us from the larger principle that no ultimate good can be found in the state. Ride a fast train to Washington today and you’ll start thinking about national health insurance tomorrow.”

http://www.newyorker.com/news/daily-comment/the-plot-against...

Re: IRS says thieves stole tax info from 100,000

#36

Post by daveloyall »

Multiple commenters have said that ~100,000 is "too low".

The number quoted in the article is 104,000.

Obvious questions:

1. Is 104,000 the exact count, or has it been rounded?

2. Did the hackers stop when their success count got there?

3. Does nobody else think it is funny that 1040 is a factor of 104,000? :)

[edited a lot]

Re: IRS says thieves stole tax info from 100,000

#37

Post by iamlolz »

daveloyall wrote: post #36

Multiple commenters have said that ~100,000 is "too low". The number quoted in the article is 104,000. Obvious questions: 1. Is 104,000 the exact count, or has it been rounded? 2. Did the hackers stop when their success count got there? 3. Does nobody else think it is funny that 1040 is a factor of 104,000? :) [edited a lot]

How is 1040 a famous number?(Australian here)

Re: IRS says thieves stole tax info from 100,000

#38

Post by ahallock »

acdha wrote: post #33
vinhboy wrote: post #17

I'll never understand why our politicians continue to cut funding to the one organization that could help the government save AND make more money. Not to mention save all of us from the headache of things like this.

You assume that the goal is to make society better. Currently one of the two major parties has aggressively staked out the position that government cannot work and should be privatized – from that perspective dysfunction is a goal, not a problem. I liked Adam Gopnik's summation last week: “What we have, uniquely in America, is a political class, and an entire political party, devoted to the idea that any money spent…

Just a talking point--empirically that's not true.

Re: IRS says thieves stole tax info from 100,000

#39

Post by Estragon »

ceejayoz wrote: post #32
revelation wrote: post #29

Something is wrong with the wording here. Thieves stole the tax info of 100,000 but they stole it from the IRS. Make no mistake: IRS needs to be held responsible for this. It is their fault.

Why is it necessarily their fault? I'd suspect the information needed to access the tax returns was obtained via phishing or a data breach elsewhere like a tax preparation service.

It's their fault because the information needed is widely available.

Re: IRS says thieves stole tax info from 100,000

#40

Post by ketralnis »

iamlolz wrote: post #37
daveloyall wrote: post #36

Multiple commenters have said that ~100,000 is "too low". The number quoted in the article is 104,000. Obvious questions: 1. Is 104,000 the exact count, or has it been rounded? 2. Did the hackers stop when their success count got there? 3. Does nobody else think it is funny that 1040 is a factor of 104,000? :) [edited a lot]

How is 1040 a famous number?(Australian here)

1040 is the name of the primary income tax reporting form in the US (and has variants like 1040A & 1040EZ).

(I can't comment on the rest of that rant though)

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