22 November 2007
UK consumers are phoning credit reference agencies in large numbers, frightened that their personal data has been stolen due to the security lapse at HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC).
Two discs containing information, including bank details, of the 7.25 million British families claiming child benefit have been lost in the post, the government admitted earlier this week.
The Times reports that as a result, many consumers are worried that fraudulent activity, including conmen applying for personal loans under false details, might follow - and are ringing the agencies in their droves.
Banks including Barclays, Halifax, HSBC, RBS and Abbey also confirmed to the newspaper that they had received "small" increases in customer enquiries concerning fraud yesterday.
The controversy surrounding the unprecedented security lapse heightened still further last night following accusations from the Conservatives that a "senior official" at the HMRC had authorised the release of the discs.
A memo from the National Audit Office, on which the allegations are based, contradicts the chancellor of the exchequer Alistair Darling's statement yesterday that a single junior employee was to blame for the security failure.