Bronx tax preparation service tosses out sensitive documents in garbage
Bronx tax preparation service tosses out sensitive documents in garbage
A Bronx tax prep service dumped old returns, copies of birth certificates and Social Security cards outside a housing project, jeopardizing the identities and accounts of hundreds of residents, the Daily News has learned.
A passerby made the shocking find Thursday outside the Davidson Houses, at Prospect Ave. and Home St., and hauled the document-filled black plastic garbage bag to state Sen. Ruben Diaz Sr.’s office on Rogers Place.
“If anyone picked up those records, they could’ve stolen someone’s identity,” Diaz said, who called the cops and directed staffers to reach out to some of the victims to let them know what happened.
BJ Tax Services, which is located on North St. near Fordham Road, told Diaz a worker must’ve accidentally tossed the docs.
“They told me that they were remodeling the office,” Diaz said. “Apparently, someone grabbed that bag as garbage. They don’t even know what happened. They don’t even know how the records got missing.”
One victim, Maximo Reynoso, was fuming when he came to pick up his info.
“He was clearly very, very upset,” a staffer said.
Police initially took the trove from Diaz and returned it to BJ Tax Services, Diaz said. Detectives from the 41st Precinct are investigating, a police source said.
The company could not be reached for comment.
It was not clear how long the documents languished in public, or if they’d been compromised. But Diaz remains concerned.
“There was enough information in those records to steal someone’s identity,” Diaz said.
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