ID Theft Hits University Of California Irvine Students
UC Irvine police say 7,000 current or former graduate students could be at risk of identity thieves who already used stolen data to file fake tax returns. UC Irvine has received more than 100 reports that Social Security numbers have been stolen and used to file fraudulent tax returns to gain refunds.
Victims are identified as current and former UCI graduate students and medical students. In most cases, the students have discovered the issue when they electronically submit their federal income tax returns and the Internal Revenue Service informs them that someone has already filed using their name and Social Security number.
The thefts appear to be part of a larger national case being investigated by the Internal Revenue Service. IRS agents have been on campus as part of the inquiry and the trail leads out of state. To date, an extensive investigation by the university has not identified a security breach on campus.
Extensive full-time resources have been dedicated to the investigation. UC Irvine Police Department, Network & Academic Computing Services, Administrative Computing Services and campus administrative staff have been conducting a thorough investigation.
The only victims of whom UCI is aware are graduate and medical students who were enrolled during the 2006-07 academic year and had GSHIP (Graduate Student Health Insurance Program) insurance. Students who fall into that category can call the IRS at 1-800-829-1040.
The IRS has instructed that after the students have filed a crime report with the UC Irvine Police Department, they should complete a paper copy of their tax return, include a note as to what happened that provides the UCI Police Department report (DR) number, and mail the paper return to the IRS’ Fresno office.
The IRS has reported a significant number of identity theft crimes occurring nationwide, and it is possible that UC Irvine is the victim of one of those criminal enterprises.
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