Attorney General Marty Jackley is warning South Dakota citizens that a data breach of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has allowed thieves to access more than 100,000 tax payer’s personal tax information. These identity thieves used a tool on the IRS website to obtain last year’s tax return information.
“Identity theft and security breaches are on the rise and consumers need to be proactive in the manner by which they protect their personal identifying information. Regardless of whether you have been affected by one of the breaches, every consumer should get in the habit of accessing their free credit report to be alerted to matters affecting their credit,” said Jackley.
The IRS has sent letters to the taxpayers whose accounts had been compromised, and it will offer them free credit monitoring.
The Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division encourages consumers to continue the practice of checking their credit reports on a regular basis with the three nationwide credit reporting agencies: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Visit www.AnnualCreditReport.com or call 1-877-322-8228 for a free copy of your credit report. Consumers are entitled to a free copy from each company every 12 months. If consumers find errors on their report, contact the reporting agency in writing.
Consumers can also place a fraud alert on their credit reports to help mitigate potential issues by contacting the three credit reporting agencies:
Equifax: 1-800-525-6285 Experian: 1-888-397-3742 TransUnion: 1-800-680-7289
South Dakota consumers may contact the Attorney General’s Consumer Protection Division at 1-800-300- 1986 or consumerhelp@state.sd.us for any questions or concerns. The Privacy Rights handbook is also available and is designed to assist consumers in protecting their privacy. The handbook is available upon request or by accessing the link below:
http://atg.sd.gov/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=bdAUbGNPO9E%3d&tabid=255
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