They hacked the tax office. Taxpayers lost their tax refunds and there are no guilty parties
The tax office in Canada fell victim to a hacker attack. The criminals extorted as much as USD 6 million (approximately PLN 17 million) in tax refunds.
Local media are outraged by the fact that taxpayers were not notified that their data was stolen.
Hackers managed to break into the database of H&R Block Canada, one of the largest companies dealing with taxpayer settlement. The criminals took advantage of taxpayers’ data, including those related to bank accounts. In this way, fraudsters extorted as much as $6 million in tax refunds.
They completed financial settlements, where, next to their real address details, they entered a false account number. The Canada Revenue Agency transferred tax refunds to these account numbers.
Imposters used H&R Block’s confidential credentials to get unauthorized access into hundreds of Canadians’ personal CRA accounts, submit false returns and pocket more than $6 million in bogus refunds. https://t.co/Snovwdsnmo
— CBC News (@CBCNews) October 28, 2024
This criminal practice was revealed by journalists from CBC and Radio Canada. They have reached out to H&R Block Canada for comment on this matter. In a statement, she wrote that there was no evidence that she was at fault regarding insufficient security.
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