Sprouts' employee information compromised

Personal information included on tax forms of Sprouts employees was compromised in a phishing scam.

Last week, a payroll department employee at the company's headquarters in Arizona responded to an email thought to be from a company senior executive. In the email, the person asked for the 2015 W-2 statements of all Sprouts workers.

The employee complied with the request, but the company quickly realized that the email was not legitimate and contacted federal authorities.

Sprouts did not say how many people had their information compromised. The company employs more than 21,000 people at 220+ stores across the country, according to its website.

Sprouts is working with the Federal Bureau of Investigation and Internal Revenue Service to look into the scam.

The breach impacts those employed by Sprouts during the calendar year 2015. Those affected are receiving 12 months of ID theft protection and Sprouts has set up an employee information hotline, company officials said.