Anthem is the latest company to fall victim to a data breach. The data breach affected over 80 million of Anthem customers, and is considered a massive data breach for the second largest health insurer in America. One of the biggest concerns for the Anthem customers affected is one not immediately obvious – tax fraud.
The Department of Revenue Commissioner for the state of Connecticut is urging residents there to file their tax returns as soon as possible to avoid being victims of tax return fraud.
Sullivan is quoted as saying,
“The personally identifiable information apparently hacked at Anthem is exactly what tax fraud thieves use to make false refund claims that appear to be legitimate. They will try to file for and steal the refund before the real taxpayer has a chance. Then the taxpayer will be denied the refund and it can take years to resolve the problem.”
Unfortunately, the kind of information that was compromised is the same information a person would use to file a tax return:
- Names
- Social security numbers
- Birthdates
No information has been given yet from Anthem regarding what kind of free credit reporting will be provided to affected customers of the data breach; though, they are sure to have some kind of follow up for assisting their customers.
Tax fraud is just another negative consequence of a data breach and staying ahead of cyber criminals is becoming more challenging for companies, like Anthem. But data breach concerns are not just an issue for data that is currently in use – it is also a concern for data containing devices that are taken out of use.
Companies can protect themselves and their customers from data breaches on data containing devices that are no longer in use by partnering with a company that can provide data destruction service, are covered by E & O insurance, and can provide clients with written certification of destruction. A written certification of data destruction is a good way to keep a paper trail to prove that you have taken the proper steps to destroy customers’ personally identifiable information.
Contact us to find out about our new customer discount for data destruction certification.