Another data breach bungle by HMRC

It was revealed recently that HM Revenue & Customs had been involved in another data breach bungle, raising further concerns over identity theft. The latest blunder involved over two thousand letters being sent out to claimants with regards to child benefits, but many of them had the personal details of other people on.

It is claimed that the names, addresses, and national insurance numbers of around 2200 people have been sent to the wrong claimants.

Dates of birth for children and child benefit numbers were also included in the details that were sent to some of the wrong people, and the blunder has resulted in many claimants being concerned over the security of their identity and information.

The revenues office has said that it cannot identify where the details of those that received the wrong letters have been sent, and this has caused even greater concern for consumers over the safety of their identity.

The HMRC office that has been involved in the latest breach is the same one that lost the details of 25 million people on discs back in 2007, raising a major alert over identity theft and security.

An official from the office has said that in relation to the number of child benefit claimants the number of letters with wrong details that have been sent out is very small, but this is not something that will appease those that have been affected and are now fearful over their own security.

A spokesperson from HMRC stated: ‘We are contacting recipients of incorrect letters to apologise and we are sending correct letters and asking customers to return the incorrect ones.’

Consumers will only be able to claim compensation in the event that they can prove that their identity has been stolen as a result of the blunder.

Tags: HM Revenue and Customs, Crimes, identity theft, security, United Kingdom, Data breach, Taxation in the United Kingdom, Data security