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Company Accused of Selling User Data Shuts Down After $104 Million Settlement (bleepingcomputer.com)
Catalin Cimpanu, reporting for BleepingComputer: The Federal Trade Commission has shut down the operator of a large network of online loan sites that promised to find people the loans with the lowest rates, but actually sold users' data to third-parties, most of which weren't even lenders. The target of FTC's ire is a company named Blue Global Media, LLC and its CEO, Christopher Kay, against which the FTC filed an official complaint last Monday, July 3. According to the FTC, since 2012 Blue Global Media operated a network of 38 websites that promised users to match them with the best payday, personal, or auto loans using Blue Global Media's proprietary technology. Hoping to find loans with the smaller interest rate and friendlier terms, users entered a slew of personal details on Blue Global Media's websites, such as names, email addresses, home addresses, phone numbers, Social Security numbers, financial and banking information, driver's license, state ID numbers, income data, military status, home ownership info, and many other more.
I wonder if their name was "Blue Global BANK" if things would be different. When I open an account (or draw a new loan) at most banks these days I have to opt-out of similar data sharing arrangements with "partners" - and the few times I've forgotten I've gotten numerous calls from financial planners, insurance reps and other third parties.
..no 'far enough' they can run. They should be strung up, drawn, quartered, the pieces burned, and their heads on pikes in the public square.
We've got to clamp down on this sort of bullshit, and clamp down HARD on it.
That's almost too good for this scum
Like this should get you the death penalty to end other criminals ideas of quick bucks everyone who took the info received stolen information theft by deception 15 years to life for them.
But nothing at all will happen to any all are free to try again.
I approve.
As long as we maintain good unemployment benefits and job placement programs for the displaced workers, that is.
As scummy as this company was, most of the employees were regular people who did nothing wrong.
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According to the latest ruleset, this post should be modded as Vorpal Flamebait +5.
They have been hiring spammers to advertise for years. They have been sued for illegal spam.
Why would anyone provide such confidential information to a spammer?
Fight Spammers!
I just think there is a lot of clueless gullible people out there. Many who never read fine print, assume everyone is trustworthy and are most likely desperate for a loan and will try anything to get one.
Lending Tree is just as bad. They sell leads years old and are horrible at managing the data they do collect. I am still attached to a house I was thinking about buying as I requested quotes from them to finance the purchase. Not a single real broker lead came from it, just scams for the first couple of months all for that house. The house is still showing up as a place I lived through automatic online credit checks. 10 years later I still get questionable calls about refinancing the place.
I bet they made 10x that, so it was still no real deterrent.
Who's going to jail in the CxO level of that company? If there were VCs funding them, which ones, and are they being fined as well enough to make it hurt?
Are any of the other parties that bankrolled them being punished?
And is the $104M actually going to do to people who might need those loans, or to rich lawyers?
If I buy a stolen bicycle, even if I did not know it was stolen, they will take that bike away. What about the data that was sold? Are they now requested to delete it? Or is it ok to use data that is obtained via something illegal? Could they sell it themselves now?
Don't fight for your country, if your country does not fight for you.