For Immediate Release:                                                                            Friday, February 6, 2015

Hartford – Department of Revenue Services Commissioner Kevin Sullivan Commissioner is advising taxpayers who may have been affected by the Anthem data breach, and who are expecting federal or state income tax refunds, to file their tax returns as soon as possible. 

Said Sullivan, "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.”    

Commissioner Sullivan advised that taxpayers using Turbo Tax in several states have been the target of fake emails with the title, “Your Turbo Tax account: Update your information” coming from a fraudulent email address, whiskers83@netzero.com.  The information given is then being used to steal tax refunds.

Added Commissioner Sullivan, “Never, ever reply to on-line inquiries like this without first confirming directly with Turbo Tax or its parent company, Intuit, that the email is legitimate.”

Turbo tax users concerned about the security of their information may call a dedicated toll free number at intuit at (800) 944-8596.