15,000 Standard Life customers' data put at risk

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Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has admitted a CD containing the personal details of thousands of Standard Life pension holders has gone missing, leaving them at heightened risk of identity theft.

The CD, which contained data relating to 15,000 Standard Life pensions customers including their names, National Insurance numbers and pension plan reference numbers was lost in transit from the Revenue office in Newcastle to the company's headquarters in Edinburgh by an external courier.

The information is sufficient to be used by fraudsters to steal the customers' identity and was being by private courier as part of routine tax audit procedures.

But it follows barely a month following an apologetic HMRC statement issued after a laptop and computer print-out containing sensitive financial details of 400 investment firm customers, which had been passed to the HMRC by several financial institutions, was stolen from the boot of a car.

In a similar statement issued over the weekend when the breach was first made public, an HMRC spokesman said they took the security of customer information "very seriously" and had already improved the arrangements for moving such sensitive material.

He also said HMRC had notified Standard Life and its customers, who had been written to, and precautionary measures have been put in place to check customers' records for any fraudulent activity.

"We have also reviewed our arrangements and introduced safeguards to prevent this happening in future," he continued. "HMRC very much regrets that this has happened and are committed to working with the institutions to ensure that those customers affected receive the advice and support they require.

He added that HMRC has asked customers to remain vigilant and have set up a number of dedicated HMRC telephone hotlines.

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