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News release Contact: James Zwilling, Minnesota Department of Revenue Media questions only please 651-556-6397 (NEWS) email: james.zwilling@state.mn.us Website: http://www.taxes.state.mn.us For immediate release: June 28, 2006 Department of Revenue to assist taxpayers whose private information was included in a package lost in the mail St. Paul, Minn. – The Minnesota Department of Revenue announced today that a package containing public, private and non-public data on approximately 2,400 individuals and 48,000 businesses is missing in the mail.
The Postal Service and the Department of Revenue continue taking all actions possible to locate this package, but have not yet been successful. There is no indication that the package was acquired by an unauthorized party, but that possibility cannot be ruled out until the package is located. The department mailed letters to the affected individual taxpayers this morning as required by state law. Additionally, the department will offer guidance to affected individuals on how they can obtain free credit reports and monitor for fraudulent activity. An employee at the Department of Revenue’s regional office in Brainerd sent the package from the area by certified mail to the department’s main office in St. Paul on May 16. The Postal Service was notified June 13 that the package was missing. The Postal Service had no record of the package, except for the receipt in possession of the Department of Revenue, because the Baxter location where it was processed did not have tracking capabilities. The department believes the package contains a small number of checks, some departmental correspondence and a tape used to back up the regional office’s computer servers. It is highly unlikely that an unauthorized user could gain access to the information contained on the tape, which includes information gathered and processed on computers in the Brainerd office, said Steve Kraatz, acting chief information officer at the Department of Revenue. “An expensive and elaborate process would have to be undertaken for an unauthorized individual to gain access to this information,” Kraatz said. “Nonetheless, we take any potential compromise of personal data very seriously at the Department of Revenue and are therefore responding accordingly.” It is believed that the backup tape and other contents of the missing package include:
If taxpayers determine that unauthorized activity is occurring, recommended actions include:
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