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The confidential data of around 15,000 taxpayers was lost by HMRC, when a computer disc went missing during transit.
The information, including names, dates of birth, National Insurance numbers and pension policy details, was being couriered to the pensions department of insurer Standard Life in Edinburgh from the Revenue's NI contributions office in Newcastle.
Both HMRC and Standard Life warned potential victims of the mishap, though the former organisation attempted to allay fears by saying there had been 'no evidence that there has been any fraud' as a result of the CD going astray.
Standard Life backed up this view by saying: 'We have also been closely monitoring all the accounts and have seen no indications of any suspicious activity'.
A through search had been conducted, said the Revenue, but the disc — one of a kind routinely sent out by HMRC - had not been recovered.
'We are taking this matter very seriously,' it added, 'and [we] are obviously extremely annoyed with the courier company concerned'.
The incident occurred in September, but HMRC and Standard Life waited five weeks before breaking the news.
The loss of the CD, which contained details of people who had opted out of the Second State Pension, follows an incident last month, when the Revenue lost a laptop containing hundreds of taxpayers' details.
