TurboTax maker says Justice Department wants info about February spike in fraudulent filings

The maker of TuboTax software says it is in touch with the U.S. Department of Justice and other government agencies about a recent spike in fraudulent filings.

Intuit Inc. said it received a formal request for information from the Justice Department and was also contacted by the Federal Trade Commission and Congress. Intuit says it will cooperate with all inquiries and wants to show that its products are secure.

On Feb. 6, Intuit said it stopped processing state tax returns for about 24 hours because of an increase in fraudulent filings. The Mountain View, California, company says its systems weren't breached and that the personal information used in the filings was stolen from other companies.

TurboTax is the most popular do-it-yourself tax preparation software in the U.S.