Last week the Internal Revenue Service announced a data breach affecting around 100,000 taxpayers who used the IRS’s online “Get Transcript” application. Those affected (as well as those unsuccessfully targeted) will receive a letter in the coming week outlining the details of this breach; credit monitoring will be offered to those whose personal details were stolen.

At the IRS’s website you can read their statement on this security breach, and an FAQ.

Further information on taxpayer identity theft can be found here.

(And, while identity theft is a serious threat, it may reassure some that fewer than half of one percent of users of the “Get Transcript” application were affected in this hijack – that’s fewer than 0.05% of all taxpayers.)