A Cape Coral woman reportedly had her federal tax refund worth nearly $4,000 stolen after her online tax preparation account was hacked into.
According to a report from the Cape Coral Police Department, the woman was informed by the Internal Revenue Service that her tax return check had been deposited into a bank account that did not belong to her. She told police that she thinks someone hacked into her file and changed her information.
The tax return check is worth $3,875.
The woman, 55, attempted to e-file her tax return on Jan. 25, but it was rejected by the IRS due to data error, according to the report. She printed the return, made the corrections and mailed the return in to the IRS.
The woman then received a letter from the IRS asking for more information regarding the e-filed tax return. When she responded, the IRS told the woman that her tax return had been deposited into her account and she was given a bank’s name and a bank account number that is not hers, the report states.
The woman told police that she contacted the online tax preparation service that she used. According to the report, she was told that her tax return was attempted three more times before it being accepted online on Jan. 26. The woman believes someone changed her information before e-filing her return.
The report states that the woman used the online tax preparation service on her home computer and only her husband and daughter have access. She told police that she believes an outside party hacked into her computer.
Messages left Thursday seeking comment were not returned by the woman.