IRS Agent Broadcasts Local Woman's Tax Issues On Howard Stern
BOSTON (CBS) - A Cape Cod woman says the IRS is to blame after her personal information was broadcast on the Howard Stern show. "No one should go through something like this," she says.
The woman, who did not want her face shown or name used, says it all began when she called the IRS to iron out a tax issue.
"I started to receive phone calls and text messages from all over the country informing me that the information I was discussing with the IRS agent was being aired on the Howard Stern show."
A portion of what she thought was a private call was in fact being transmitted via satellite to millions of listeners, including her personal phone number.
"As soon as I heard of this information I just started to quiver, and had what I would call an out of body experience," she says. "I couldn't believe it at first I thought it was a joke."
The IRS agent was apparently on another line with the Stern show at the same time, but didn't seem to realize he was on the air.
In a statement to WBZ, the IRS said, "We are aware of this troubling situation, and we are currently reviewing the matter. The IRS takes the confidentiality of taxpayer information very seriously, and we have high standards that we expect and require employees to follow."
"A special agent informed me that in fact what I had explained was accurate, that the agent that I had spoken with initially was sent home on administrative leave and that the case was under investigation," the woman said.
The woman says the damage has been done. She's gotten a slew of prank calls from Stern listeners and is now considering getting a lawyer.
"My phone number is out there, my personal conversation and I just feel terribly violated and I feel like I'm in jeopardy that my credit information might be out there and I'm just totally devastated."
Ever since this happened the woman says she's been a nervous wreck. In fact, she can't even eat; she says she thought she was speaking to somebody she could trust, but that clearly was not the case.