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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.
Sounds like the company is just filing for bankruptcy and will only pay a small amount of the fine. They should also seize personal assets from the CEO, high likelihood he is skating with millions of dollars made from this illegal behaviour over the past 5-years.
But how will we have the best CEOs if we punish them for childish pranks?
Sounds like the company is just filing for bankruptcy and will only pay a small amount of the fine. They should also seize personal assets from the CEO, high likelihood he is skating with millions of dollars made from this illegal behaviour over the past 5-years.
They did go after him. It says so in the summary. The official complaint (link in the second paragraph) lists him as a defendant (as well as the company). He is personally liable here.
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 should also seize personal assets from the CEO, high likelihood he is skating with millions of dollars made from this illegal behaviour over the past 5-years.
IANAL, but this is why both sleaze-bags and legit people alike incorporate, to avoid personal exposure. So unless there was calculated fraud that lead to actual losses, my *guess* (again, IANAL) is that creditors and wronged folks alike are SOL except for the lawyers perhaps, Everyone else will get a cupon for $1 off a Whopper at your choice of locations.
If you want news from today, you have to come back tomorrow.
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!
>He is personally liable here.
That's all well and good, but the sucker should be held to answer criminally. He should do five years or so in prison with the kind of people that actually use payday loans and such not some Club Fed with his fellow embezzlement artists and the like.
Some mornings it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints to get out of bed.
Incorporation only protects you from personal civil liability, it does nothing to insulate you from criminal liability. Further, if there is fraud or certain other types of crime, incorporation does not protect you from prosecution or recovery by victims.
However, you may be right in that the feds will confiscate all of his assets, but it will only amount to a few bucks per person he defrauded.
If you disagree, please post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like
he was looking to buy a house
he submitted a request thru lendingtree to find out rates and downpayments and such.
no good/real offers came of it, just a bunch of scammers/bad deals.
according to some data brokers, he bought that house and lived there when they do an 'identifty verification' online, which typically asks you a few questions that only you should know.
10 years later he still gets scam calls trying to refinance a house he never bought.
Incorporation only protects you from personal civil liability, it does nothing to insulate you from criminal liability. Further, if there is fraud or certain other types of crime, incorporation does not protect you from prosecution or recovery by victims.
However, you may be right in that the feds will confiscate all of his assets, but it will only amount to a few bucks per person he defrauded.
You know, I think that in addition to investigating and pursuing these types of companies the FTC should have a "How to" guide for filing in small claims court and using their settlements as evidence. I do not know if the FTC actually pays the victims of these sort of scams so I do enjoys the thought of thousands of default judgments chasing these assholes for the rest of their life.
Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the (supposed) good of its victims may be the most oppressive
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.
Criminal prosecution is better. If they are not criminally convicted, they can often declare bankruptcy, shield their assets offshore or with other shady methods and those they stole from are SOL. If they are criminally convicted, I don't think you can get rid of judgments against you through bankruptcy, though IANAL.
If you disagree, please post your argument. (-1, Overrated) isn't your personal censorship tool for views you don't like