LendingTree has divulged that ex-employees have been accused of sharing passwords with other mortgage lenders so they could pillage the database for things like social security numbers, income figures, names, addresses, and phone numbers.
So if you signed up for the service and received more calls from mortgage lenders than you bargained for, it could be related to this mishap.
According to the FAQ on the company’s website, LendingTree recently learned that a number of former employees may have shared company passwords with several lenders so they could gain access to customer data, including loan requests, name, address, social security numbers, and more.
LendingTree has sued three southern California lenders in conjunction with the breach, including Irvine-based Newport Lending Group and Sage Credit Company, and Home Loan Consultants of Newport Beach.
However, the mortgage matchmaker noted that it didn’t think any identity theft or fraudulent activity resulted.
Instead, the LendingTree spokesperson believes the data stolen will just be used to further annoy those who signed up for the service, but warned customers to monitor their credit reports for any unusual activity.
The scary part is that the data had been stolen on an ongoing basis since October 2006, and was just recently noticed.
Not surprisingly, a number of security firms have already questioned the control systems in place at LendingTree that allowed former employees to gain access to the system.
Apparently LendingTree has alerted the authorities and updated their systems to avoid any further issues.