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A recent security breach at a major tax
preparation provider was a welcome surprise for
alert fraudsters and a reminder to consumers that
your secrets are safe from no one -- particularly
this time of year.
January 10, 2006
H&R Block (NYSE: HRB) sent out an unwelcome
promotional gift over the holidays -- free tax
preparation software. The objectionable surprise
wasn't the contents of the box; it's what was
printed on the mailing label. Next to the
recipient's name and address was a 40-character
source code containing the addressee's nine-digit
Social Security number. For alert fraudsters, it
was one special delivery. According to the
company, the inadvertent glitch was included in
less than 3% of the promotional mailings. (The
expanse of the campaign was not made public.)
Within 72 hours of the December mailing mishap,
H&R Block notified customers whose private
data it broadcast via the postal system.
Unfortunately, this is the season when such data
is legitimately plastered all over the place.
We're now entering the identity thief's version of
the annual donor drive.
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