HM Revenue and Customs statement

As part of You can run�but can you hide? Panorama reporter Simon Boazman gave a blagger some of his basic details - his name, address and date of birth.

Using this information, the blagger called HM Revenue and Customs pretending to be Simon Baozman and obtained all his salary and tax records for the last six years.

Below is HM Revenue Custom's official response to what transpired:

"Our security checks were carried out properly. Whilst it is of course impossible for our staff to be absolutely certain that the person on the other end of the phone hasn't obtained the identifying information illegally, or as in this case been provided with it voluntarily, the security checks that we have in place enable us to do business safely and securely with over 60 million telephone callers every year.

The personal information that Mr Boazman's impostor provided us with when asked to prove that he was Mr Boazman was not obtained from HMRC and underlines the importance of ensuring that personal details are properly protected and used appropriately at all times."

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version