Hackers Claim to Have Mitt's Tax Returns

They demand $1M ransom
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 6, 2012 12:05 AM CDT
Updated Sep 6, 2012 6:10 AM CDT
Hackers Claim to Have Mitt's Tax Returns
Would $1 million in ransom be deductible?   (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)

An unidentified team of hackers say they've stolen Mitt Romney's tax returns and will make them public unless his campaign forks out $1 million in "ransom." The hackers say they made off with Romney's pre-2010 returns after gaining access to a PriceWaterhouseCoopers office in Tennessee, reports Mashable. They have threatened to make the returns public unless they receive the payoff in the hard-to-trace BitCoin online currency by Sept. 28.

The hackers say they sent flash drives containing copies of the returns to Democratic and Republican party offices. The Secret Service is investigating the claims, and has seized flash drives received at the offices, reports the Nashville City Paper. Officials at both offices say they made no attempt to access the information on the flash drives. A spokesman for PriceWaterhouseCoopers says the company is working closely with the Secret Service, and managers haven't discovered any evidence of unauthorized access to Romney's returns. (More Mitt Romney stories.)

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