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Thousands of UK pensioners could be at risk from ID theft and financial fraud after their personal bank details were sent to the wrong addresses after an administrative blunder by a government department.
The details were contained in letters sent by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) that were to inform pensioners of their pension payments for the next financial year.
The mistake was caused when two letters instead of one were sent out to 26.000 customers by the DWP. Whilst one letter was intended for the recipient, the other contained the details of someone else.
The error could lead to some falling victim to ID theft or fraud, a continuing problem in the UK. To add insult to injury this isn't the first time that pensioners have been on the wrong end of a DWP blunder.
General secretary of the National Pensioners Convention pressure group, Joe Harris, said: "This appalling administrative error by the DWP is just the latest in a long line of mistakes.
"Last year they were asking pensioners to pay back overpayments of pension credit – now they're telling all and sundry other people's personal details."
The DWP have apologised for the blunder and announced it had sent letters out explaining the blunder on the day they learned of the mistake.
A spokeswoman for the DWP said: "We were sending out letters to customers letting them know what their weekly pension payments next year would be. Some of those customers received letters intended for someone else in that mailing.
"As soon as we found out about it we acted immediately and launched an investigation. We would like to reassure customers that we will be able to trace all the letters involved and pinpoint where each one went."
Alisdair Milton
19.02.07
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