Man Orders Tie From Gap, Gets Social Security Numbers Instead

After ordering a tie and a pocket square from the Gap chain Banana Republic’s website for his wedding, the fiancé to Emily Dreyfuss was mailed a package containing the confidential information of 20 former Gap employees says msnNOW.

“We totally laughed,” Dreyfuss, 29, said on Friday from her home in Cambridge, Massachusetts according to Fox News.

Dreyfuss continued on to say that the situation stopped being funny after they realized exactly what kind of information was included in the package.

The information in the package included the confidential files of about 20 former employees, including Social Security numbers and W4 tax forms.

According to Fox News,

“Inside were three folders sealed with tape and labeled ‘HR Administration.’

“They contained tax and Social Security information as well as handwritten resignation letters, doctors’ notes and salary information — seemingly the employees’ entire record at the company.

“The employees were sales support associates and at least one made $9 an hour.”

Dreyfuss, who runs the home page and also writes for technology website CNET said she didn’t look through everything,

“I got a queasy feeling and felt like I should stop looking at this,” she said.

Edie Kissko, a spokeswoman for Gap Inc. in San Francisco said in a statement,

“We’re taking immediate action to evaluate and strengthen our processes to prevent miss-mailings in the future and apologize for the error.”

Apparently clothing and employee information is sent out in the same type of gray plastic bag, and the two packages appear to have been simply mislabeled, though it is unclear how that happened according to Fox News.

Dreyfuss said the episode with Banana Republic raised concerns about how well the company is safeguarding customer information.

“People should know about this because it’s crazy and scary,” she said.

These kinds of accidents are scary, because when this sort of confidential information lands in the wrong hands, many can become victims of identity theft.

Recently, four Chicago women were arrested for identity theft, and there was also the case of the Florida man allegedly planned to file 100 false tax returns.

According to USA Today, Dreyfuss was offered a free tie and pocket handkerchief — a $61 value, but said she declined the offer.

[Image via Shutterstock/photastic]