Massive cash reward offered for return of HMRC lost discs
December 27, 2007
According to a recent report a massive £20,000 reward is now being offered for the safe return of the two discs that were recently lost by HM Revenue and Customs.
The discs were being sent to the National Audit Office, and contained the banking details of 25 million consumers. Although a massive operation to recover the discs was put into place there has been no sign of the lost data, and the search for the discs is now drawing to an end, prompting authorities to offer a rewards as a last resort in order to try and recover the sensitive data.
Following the blunder, which came to light in mid-November, the seven million households that were affected were contacted by letter to inform them of the loss of data, and government officials issues warnings urging consumers to be on their guard if they were affected by the data loss. The loss of banking details puts the millions of affected people at increased risk of fraud and identity theft, issues that were already causing concern throughout the UK.
According to the acting head of HMRC the number of incidents involving security breaches since 2005 could well indicate system failure. He added that there had been seven major breaches, including loss of data, since April 2005, and that all breaches were recorded. Other breaches included letters containing sensitive data being sent to incorrect addresses, the loss of confidential waste, and the theft of a laptop containing sensitive data.
He also stated that morale amongst staff at HMRC had hit rock bottom as a result of the latest incident, but added HMRC workers were “determined to learn from this”. Public apologies were also made by the Chancellor, Alistair Darling, and the Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.
Alan Wright
27th December 2007
Recent posts:
- Will consumers benefit from the interest rate cut?
- UK to be hit with rising energy bills
- FSA responds to accusations over Northern Rock
- Interest rates – how low will they go?
- Lenders want Bank of England to cut interest rates
Related Articles
- Some economists predict interest rates could fall to 4% by end of next year Earlier this week the Bank of England announced that the base interest rate would be falling by a quarter point from 5.75% to 5.5%. This
- Loss of personal and sensitive data should be an offence A group of MPs has stated that agencies and firms found to have recklessly or repeatedly lost sensitive and personal data should be charged with
- Another data loss blunder Over recent months there have been more and more stories hitting the headlines with regards to loss of sensitive data, and it seems that the
- MPs state loss of personal data should be classed as an offence Instances of data loss and security breaches by banks, financial institutions and even government agencies have been at the forefront of the financial headlines over
- Many cardholders missing out on their rewards A recent report has highlighted how many rewards based credit card holders are missing out on their rewards by failing to claim. These credit cards
Comments
Got something to say?