Elaine Dodd

February 19, 2018

IRS Scam Leverages Hacked Tax Preparers, Client Bank Accounts

This post was originally published on this siteIdentity thieves who specialize in tax refund fraud have been busy of late hacking online accounts at multiple tax preparation firms, using them to file phony refund requests. Once the Internal Revenue Service processes the return and deposits money into bank accounts of the hacked firms’ clients, the crooks contact those clients posing as a collection agency and demand that the money be “returned.” In one version of the scam, criminals are pretending to be debt collection agency officials acting on behalf of the IRS. They’ll call taxpayers who’ve had fraudulent tax refunds […]
July 9, 2021

Spike in “Chain Gang” Destructive Attacks on ATMs

This post was originally published on this siteLast summer, financial institutions throughout Texas started reporting a sudden increase in attacks involving well-orchestrated teams that would show up at night, use stolen trucks and heavy chains to rip Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) out of their foundations, and make off with the cash boxes inside. Now it appears the crime — known variously as “ATM smash-and-grab” or “chain gang” attacks — is rapidly increasing in other states. Four different ATM “chain gang” attacks in Texas recently. Image: Texas Bankers Association. The Texas Bankers Association documented at least 139 chain gang attacks against […]