The Next FCRA Frontier: Identity Theft and CFPB Updates — FCRA Focus Podcast
Consumer Finance Monitor Podcast Episode: Responding to Direct and Indirect Identity Theft Disputes Under the FCRA: What Are The Differences?
Torres Talks Trade Podcast Episode 9 on U.S. Customs and Border Protection's Global Business Identifier program
Phishing: Cybersecurity’s Biggest Threat
Digging Deeper, Episode 1: The Con Queen of Hollywood
Preserving Black History in Bucks County, PA, with Recorder of Deeds Robin Robinson: On Record PR
What is Consumer Fraud and What Deceptions are Employed?
What Companies Should Do to Prepare for Implementation of Cybersecurity Executive Order
In recent years, identity theft cases have surged, especially during tax season. According to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), in 2022, the federal agency identified and prevented USD 5.7 billion in tax-related fraud, and...more
The recent massive data breach at National Public Data (NPD), a background check company, has potentially compromised the personal information of millions, if not billions, of individuals, including their Social Security...more
IRS Awareness Campaign for the Summer 2023 focuses on data theft signs and the importance of staying alert against new and ongoing threats of tax-related identity in order to protect the taxpayer and the tax professional. ...more
Risk Management Question - What are some of the newest hacking scams that may affect law firms and other businesses? The Issue - On October 27, 2021, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued warnings to be on alert...more
The Security Summit, consisting of the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”), state tax agencies, and private-sector tax industry officials, is encouraging tax professionals during the 2019 summer season to take some time to...more
In March 2015, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) convened an unprecedented coalition of state tax agencies and private-sector tax industry officials to fight back against emerging criminal syndicates exploiting sensitive...more
This week, I was honored to again have the opportunity to participate as a speaker at the Internal Revenue Service’s Nationwide Tax Forum 2019 in Washington, D.C. Through a generous grant provided by the American Coalition...more
Because cybercriminals don’t take holidays, December is an appropriate time for all employers to take steps to protect tax data and identities (both their own and their employees’) in advance of the 2019 tax-filing season....more
Some analysts have predicted that by 2020, there will be 20 billion Internet of Things (IoT) connected devices worldwide, which could grow to over 80 billion by 2025. Global sales of IoT devices were $80 billion in 2017, and...more
With the April 17 tax deadline fast approaching, businesses need to remain vigilant for employee reports (or more likely questions) about fraudulent tax returns being filed in their names. Multiple employee reports of...more
While it may be better known as “Cyber Monday”, today also marks the start of the second annual National Tax Security Awareness Week (November 27 to December 1). The Internal Revenue Service, state tax agencies and the tax...more
The Internal Revenue Service (the “Service”) issued and announcement providing relief from verification of the qualification of an individual’s request for a hardship withdrawal or a loan in order for a person to obtain the...more
In the wake of several recent high-profile security breaches, employers are increasingly viewing identity theft protection as an essential employee benefit for employees. According to Willis Towers Watson’s 2016 voluntary...more
Did someone steal your tax return? You are not alone. Indeed, the rise in tax-related identity theft has been well documented. In 2015, the FTC reported a 50% increase in identity theft complaints. A primary cause for...more
Tax-related identity theft is nothing new, but tax season 2016 took tax schemes to a new level. Last year, our cyber experts advised a large cluster of clients (public and private companies) over a period of only two...more
As if tax season was not bad enough, the U.S. Internal Revenue Services ("IRS") recently issued an urgent alert warning that cybercriminal phishing scams are utilizing a new, more dangerously effective method for large-scale...more
The Internal Revenue Service, state tax agencies and the tax industry issued an urgent alert today to all employers that the Form W-2 email phishing scam has evolved beyond the corporate world and is spreading to other...more
Tax season brings many headaches, but none as miserable as sophisticated scammer efforts to steal employee W-2 information. Using social engineering and modest technological tools, a “spear phishing” attack seeks to trick...more
On September 11, 2015, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch (R-UT) and Ranking Member Ron Wyden (D-OR) introduced a bill aimed at combating identity theft and tax rebate fraud. The legislation comes as the Internal...more
The IRS announced last week that the value of identity theft protection services are not taxable and do not have to be included in gross income calculations for tax purposes. Identity theft continues to be the number one...more
Earlier this year, the IRS announced that identity thieves had been able to hack one of its computer databases and gain access to extremely sensitive data. Back then, the IRS indicated that about 225,000 households had been...more