A few days ago, the IRS released information about the breach of its security systems in an attempt to file fraudulent tax returns and claim tax refunds. Personal information was previously stolen from other sources and used to obtain e-file PINs, which is used when filing 2015 tax return as means of verifying the identity. Perpetrators made 464,000 attempts of generating the PINs and 101,000 of them were successful. Below is a screenshot of information needed to create a PIN:

The IRS claims that personal taxpayers information was not compromised, but it is closely monitoring the affected accounts. It will be also contacting the affected individuals in the upcoming weeks. In case you were a victim of this attack, it is a good time to closely monitor your credit rating and credit activity. And when it comes to contact from the IRS, the agency only reaches out to taxpayers via mail. Be suspicious of anyone contacting you by phone and especially email and claiming to work for the IRS.