The US agencys unit comprises of roughly a dozen agents. The agents, based in Washington, will focus on cybercrime related to tax fraud, including the theft of data which is then used to collect victim tax refunds without their consent.
IRS data suggests that within the 2014 fiscal year, over 1,000 cases of identity theft involved the loss of data through digital means.
Phishing campaigns, for example, remain a common method for cybercriminals to entice victims to part with personal and sensitive information which can then be used in identity theft and tax fraud.
Malware which spies on users, using techniques such as keylogging, is then often installed and surveillance data will then find its way back to cybercriminals through command and control (C&C) centers.
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