Internal Revenue Service Data Breach (2011)

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) has been ramping up its efforts to protect taxpayers from identity theft. Im guessing that IRS didnt expect to have to protect taxpayers from identity theft from its own employees. However, thats exactly what federal investigators allege happened in Philadelphia. An Orlando television station, WFTV, is reporting that 48 year old Domeen Flowers used her position as an IRS employee to steal taxpayer identities. An IRS employee since 2007, Flowers allegedly used information gleaned from taxpayer returns to apply for credit cards in central Florida and eastern Pennsylvania. On at least one occasion, Flowers allegedly used official IRS letterhead and envelope to request more information from a victim, and threatened the victim with an IRS audit if he did not cooperate.