Beazley offers response service for W-2 breaches

Beazley P.L.C has launched a rapid response service for data breaches related to the W-2 tax form, the insurer said Thursday.

Beazley Breach Response Services, the company’s in-house response team, will work with service provider partners to begin the notification process to employees — within hours in some cases — in the event of a W-2-related breach, London-based Beazley said in a statement.

Legal counsel can be assigned, a call center set up, and employee notification and assistance plans put in place, including credit monitoring, in one business day, according to the statement.

“Rapid response is critical in these situation,” Katherine Keefe, head of BBR Services, said in the statement. “In 2016, the IRS reported more than a million fraudulent tax returns with $7.97 billion claimed in fraudulent refunds — and W-2s are a rich source of information for those fake returns.”