Teachers across Los Angeles County and the West Covina Unified School District were shocked to learn that their taxes had been fraudulently filed under their names throughout April. The fraudulent activity stems from a data breach with the W-2 vendor from the LA County Office of Education (LACOE).

At Mt. SAC Early College Academy, two teachers have had their taxes filed without their knowledge. Britt Linke, a history teacher at MECA, was one of the many affected teachers.  She explained, “Someone used my social security number to file taxes fraudulently.”

Linke explained that the information that was leaked is extremely sensitive, and its exposure significantly increased the risk of identity theft.

“Having your Social Security number out there is really problematic,” said Linke. “A lot of things are tied to your Social Security. Credit inquiries, bank accounts, a lot of your identity is out there”.

Linke also expressed her mistrust and frustration with the vendor responsible for the W-2 forms, “The company [LACOE] used for the W-2s, I definitely have some distrust in them”.

Despite the madness of the situation, Linke reassured that constant communication is being received from the district.

“We’re getting information from the district… They’re giving us information step by step,” Linke said.

Courtney Bell, an English teacher at MECA, has also had her taxes fraudulently filed, and she, too, is working to resolve the matter.

According to district emails, they have stated they are working in collaboration with LACOE, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) , and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) to help resolve the matter of the security breach.

Both LACOE and West Covina Unified declined to interview on the matter at this time.