The IRS is set up to protect our sensitive personal information.

However, Joseph Drotar from Hillsboro says he was flabbergasted by what he recently received in the mail from the IRS.

The envelope from the IRS was scribbled out by hand.

“I thought that looked very strange, not like something from the IRS,” Drotar said.

He was expecting a transcript of his tax history, which he requested. Along with his tax history, he received detailed tax information about 18 other people!

It included pages of information with sensitive information like social security numbers, birthdates, addresses, phone numbers, even salary information.

It’s an identity thieves dream.

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“I was outraged, I just couldn't say anything for a while.” Drotar said.

Congressman David Wu looked at the information and said, “It looked like someone just went into the back room, photocopied a bunch of documents and scrawled out an envelope and put it in the mail and sent it.

Congressman Wu said it's a careless breach of personal information.

He wondered why the envelope holding the sensitive information was handwritten. He says in his office they put the envelope through the printer so they have a record of who they send things to.

Since Drotar received information about 18 other people, he wondered if 18 other people have his personal and private information.

Unit 8 contacted several of the 18 people who had their personal information released. None of them had heard about he situation from the IRS.

We told them about the situation so they can take steps to monitor their credit.

So what did the IRS tell Congressman Wu about the situation?

“That they looked into it, that their privacy policies prevent them from telling us the results of their internal investigation,” Wu said.

An IRS official told me all unauthorized disclosure of taxpayer information is thoroughly investigated.

“I have an idea that whoever did this made a major mistake and i hope at the very least they're instructed that you won't do it again,” Drotar said.

Now for the IRS’s take on that handwritten envelope. The IRS says it's not unusual. Sometimes addresses are printed, sometimes they are handwritten.

There is no evidence that anyone’s identity has been stolen as a result of this situation.

However, everyone involved we were able to contact will be watching their credit information closely for the next year, just to be safe.