Man stole students’ info to file fake tax refunds but didn’t earn a dime, feds say
A 39-year-old man managed to hack student and staff emails at two Philadelphia-area colleges — and obtain their personal identifying information — but he didn’t make a dime in his failed tax return fraud attempt, authorities say.
Timothy Spillane of Chester Springs pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania to “accessing a protected computer network without authorization” in the incident, according to a Jan. 24 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
Authorities say Spillane hacked into the emails of about 25 college students and staff before obtaining identifying information, including W-2 tax forms and student financial information.
A defense attorney representing Spillane did not immediately respond to a request for statement from McClatchy News.
With the information he obtained on his victims, Spillane then tried submitting fraudulent tax returns, according to the news release. Officials say he even admitted to setting up emails, prepaid phones and bank accounts in the victims’ names so he could get the tax refund money.
But, authorities say Spillane’s plan was foiled as he couldn’t accurately guess the victims’ adjusted gross income of the year prior.
“A significant number of Americans handle nearly all of their business online, which means that the information they store digitally can be vulnerable,” said U.S. Attorney Jennifer Arbittier Williams. “Would-be thieves like this defendant demonstrate how quickly and easily personal information can be compromised.
“However, this case also demonstrates how quickly our Office and our law enforcement partners will respond,” she continued. “It was only a matter of weeks between the FBI receiving a tip and the day they knocked on the defendant’s door to execute a search warrant, stopping him in his tracks.”
This story was originally published January 24, 2022 at 5:47 PM with the headline "Man stole students’ info to file fake tax refunds but didn’t earn a dime, feds say."