Maryland comptroller explains mistake that exposed thousands of Social Security numbers, steps to fix it
BALTIMORE -- Maryland's Comptroller Brooke Lierman told WJZ Investigates that her office will no longer include Social Security numbers on mailed 1099-G tax forms after a printing error exposed the personal information of thousands of Marylanders.
"We're really, really sorry that this happened," Lierman told WJZ Investigator Mike Hellgren. "We take it really seriously, and we're doing everything that we can to make it right."
Many victims were those who received relief payments after the Key Bridge collapse.
What went wrong?
The 1099-G tax forms the comptroller's office mailed had one person's name and address on the outside, but someone else's data inside.
"My message is we take their security seriously and I'm deeply apologetic for this mistake," Lierman said. "I know that they are nervous so we want them to know they can always reach out to us."
She said the state prints more than 800,000 1099 forms every year.
"At one point, the printer simply malfunctioned and had to be started again, and when it started again, it went one data set below where it supposed to, so that the pages didn't match up correctly," Lierman said.
Her office will now do spot checks during the printing process.
Affected Taxpayers frustrated
Many of those who received the incorrect mailings are frustrated, worried about identity theft after their Social Security numbers were sent to people they do not know.
"If I have all this girl's information, that means someone else has all my information, and I'm quite concerned about that because they can go and ruin my credit," Jessica Butrim told Hellgren after receiving the wrong form.
Privacy protections
Lierman said she has taken new steps to protect privacy.
"Unfortunately, this agency for a long time has been in the practice of including Social Security numbers on 1099s," the comptroller said. "As soon as I found out about this on Monday, we put a stop to that. There's no reason to put somebody's Social Security number on a form that's mailed so we have made process changes to ensure that something like this can never happen again."
She said her office has identified everyone impacted.
One-year free credit monitoring
The comptroller told WJZ that everyone affected will get one year of free credit monitoring, and that could be expanded.
"If there are instances where there are reasons for us to consider doing this longer, we're absolutely open to that. I take very seriously—and our agency takes very seriously—the safety and security of all Marylanders. I'm deeply regretful that this happened, but I also want Marylanders to know we're taking this seriously, improving our process, and we're going to have their back."
The comptroller said she took quick action with a full response less than 24 hours after she learned what happened.
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