The California Office of the Attorney General disclosed that TaxSlayer, a tax preparation service provider, suffered a data breach between October 10, 2015, and December 21, 2015, where an unauthorized third party gained access to user accounts. The incident exposed sensitive personal information, including names, addresses, and Social Security numbers (SSNs) of affected users. The breach was officially reported on January 29, 2016, though the exact number of impacted individuals was not specified in the announcement. The compromised data poses significant risks, such as identity theft, financial fraud, and long-term reputational harm to the company. Given the nature of the exposed information—particularly SSNs—victims may face prolonged vulnerabilities, including tax-related fraud and unauthorized credit applications. TaxSlayer likely faced regulatory scrutiny and potential legal repercussions due to the failure to protect customer data during the prolonged exposure period.

TaxSlayer, a tax preparation software publisher suffered by a data breach that affacted approximately 9,000 customers. The compromised data included the customers’ phone numbers, accounts address, social security number and other data containing 2014 tax return. TaxSlayer offered one year of free credit monitoring to all the affected customers.