Notice of Data Incident Regarding Mendes & Haney, LLP

RIPON, Calif., June 21, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- Mendes & Haney, LLP ("M&H") announced today that it was subject to a data incident, which may have potentially exposed some information of clients and individuals.

What Happened?

After experiencing an unexpected rejected tax return on February 28, 2018, M&H immediately began an investigation into the matter and hired a specialized forensic IT firm to assist in their investigation. On March 21, 2018, the third-party forensic IT firm concluded their investigation and determined that there was unauthorized access to M&H's network from a foreign IP address between January 23, 2018 and February 26, 2018 through Remote Desktop Protocol.

What Information Was Involved?

If you are an individual, this information may have included your: name, birthdate, telephone number(s), address, Social Security number, employment (W-2) information, 1099 information (including account number if provided to us), and direct deposit bank account information (account number and routing information) if provided to us.

If you are an entity, this information may have included your: company name; federal employer identification number; address; telephone number; partner, shareholder/officer or beneficiary names, addresses, and Social Security numbers; and your employee and/or 1099-recipient information (including account number if provided to us) if we do your payroll.

If you are either a partner, shareholder, or employee of a partnership or company M&H performed work for, and accordingly some of your information was needed for their tax purposes, this information may have included your: name, address, Social Security number, and any earnings and/or distributions or loans to or from that entity.

Each individual/entity may have been impacted differently. If you believe your information may have been maintained by M&H but you did not receive a written notice, please call 1-888-250-­5835.

What We Are Doing.

In addition to the steps outlined above, the FBI, the IRS, the FTB, the three credit reporting bureaus, all applicable state agencies, and local law enforcement have been notified of the incident. Further, we have reviewed our office procedures in an attempt to avoid such an incident from occurring again. We will also work with law enforcement in any criminal investigation.

What You Can Do.

M&H recommends those potentially impacted take the following steps:

1. Establish and monitor free 90-day fraud alerts with the three credit reporting bureaus: Equifax (1-888-766-0008; P.O. Box 740241, Atlanta, GA 30374), Experian (1-888-397-3742; P.O. Box 4500, Allen, TX 75013), and TransUnion (1-800-680-7289; P.O. Box 2000, Chester, PA 19022-2000).  
2. Consider placing a credit freeze, which will make it more difficult for someone to open a new account.  For more information: https://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0497-credit-freeze-faqs
3. If you become a victim or suspect identity theft, file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission at https://identitytheft.gov and law enforcement.  The FTC also provides detailed and specific information about identity theft on their website, which we recommend be reviewed.

Lastly, obtain a free credit report every year from the three credit bureaus at  www.annualcreditreport.com  and one year of complimentary credit monitoring and identity theft insurance has been purchased for you should you be affected. 

For More Information.

If you have questions or need additional information, please call toll free number 1-888-250-5835, Monday through Friday, from 5:00 A.M. to 5 P.M. PST.  You may also write Mendes & Haney, LLP at P.O. Box 779, Ripon, CA 95366.

SOURCE Mendes & Haney, LLP