United Kingdom Loses Digital Records of 25 Million Citizens

In what's very likely to be the worst technology blunder of the century, the United Kingdom appears to have misplaced the records of 25 million citizens. It all started when Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs (HMRC) decided to send two disks containing the birth records, bank accounts, insurance numbers, and all manner of other important personal information of 25 million citizens to the National Audit Office (NAO). The majority of the 25 million citizens whose information was on the two disks were recipients of Child Benefits. HMRC shipped the information out via post on October 8th, and on November 8th the NAO discovered that they did not have the two disks. While the British government spends their time pointing fingers at each other to properly determine who is at fault (you can read a more descriptive version of the drama via the source link), an American convict-turned-FBI Fraud Investigator is working hard on the case, and suspects foul play.

If you live in the United Kingdom and feel that you may have been affected by this fraud, the government has set up a hotline for you to call. The number is 0845 302 1444.