Since January of 2007, we at Doom have been working to draw attention to how the housing slump is risking our personal data.
We first became aware of the problem when an auctioneer contacted us and told us that he was auctioning off the equipment of a defunct mortgage office. Among the items he was auctioning off were the computers- with all of the data still on them! In addition, there were files in the filing cabinets- and on the desks. The potential for identity theft is huge.
In March of 2007 we noted that it appeared that disgruntled employees from the troubled Silver State Mortgage company were stealing computers. Again, there is a danger of identity theft.
Yesterday, from the Arizona Republic, we read of another case of carelessly handled personal information: [Thanks to M and L!]
Boxes containing loan applications, Social Security numbers and bank account information for residents of a Gilbert neighborhood were discovered in a ransacked model home abandoned by a bankrupt developer.
Several Higley Park model homes have been broken into since builder Randall Martin ceased operations. One home even had its garage door stolen, residents say.
Julio Gonzalez, member of an ad hoc committee of Higley Park residents, found the boxes of paperwork when he was surveying the damage to the model homes. He’s now notifying residents to come collect the documents.
With lenders and builders going under or downsizing, if steps are not taken to protect the data of individuals, all kinds of personal data is at risk. Apparently though, until we have a reported case of massive abuse, no steps will be taken to protect this kind of information.
Shouldn’t this problem be delt with before that happens?
twist -
Heaven knows we tried at the time. I also filled out a couple of online forms (tracking numbers probably available if I dig deep enough) to the relevant authorities pointing at our info.
If anyone wants to do follow-up on the following, you might want to check that the 1 1/2 year old contact info is still good. Things may have changed in the meanwhile.
As a former Silver State customer I’m not very pleased with this info. I’ve had a personal disgust with this sort of crime and the gov’s apparent lack of interest. I had a convicted felon attempt to scam my store in LV on a credit app and the same detective that got this clown before got him this time. After numerous trips to court it became very evident he knew how to play the game and got off with probation. The victim was from Wisconsin and had to come to LV on multiple occasions only to see the stall tactic work brilliantly. As our economy keeps tanking I think it’s safe to say nobody, from any of the parties, really cares about any safeguards to the citizens. The older I get the clearer this becomes.
I have a good friend that realized someone had got his credit card info. Luckily he caught it before the person used it much. However, there was a purchase of a number of pairs of shoes on it (online order). It was too late to cancel the purchase as the shoes were already in route via UPS. So he contacted UPS instead and got them to give him the shipping address. It was a residence in TX so he called the local authorities. They told him to notify UPS and have them return the merchandise to the vendor (that’s also what the credit card company told him). We didn’t get it? He found the address that the “stolen goods” were goin to. All the police had to do was show up when UPS showed up??? Nobody cares. I realized after that, that they just don’t care (police and credit card companies).
AZ, I have another short story like yours. Had a guy trying to pull a credit card scam(from california of course). Things didn’t look right so I drove to the house. Saw cars with cali plates and watched them drive off at 9:55 a.m. Shopping? So I went to the door and knocked and the man that answered the door said the party I was looking for was his son but that he was slightly retarded. I said I needed to see some i.d and he left the room(which was empty except for a big tv still in the box) and came back and said his son didn’t want to make the purchase. I called the police, the c.c. company and guess what. Nobody cared.
Thanks so much for bringing attention to this issue.
I would note that, while you are absolutely correct that this is a huge harm to consumers & customers, there is also a large, mostly unrecognized, threat to national security. To grasp the import, think of the wide-scale damage endemic in mass identity theft, & access to regulated systems.
The bad guys already know this. It’s our side that does not understand our exposure.
(Disclosure: my colleagues & I work on this commercially. Obviously. We also do a lot of volunteer work to educate stakeholders, because we are so concerned about the harm to consumers, shareholders, & national security due to failure to adequately protect regulated information & systems during the meltdown.
Info here:
http://yourmortgageoryourlife.wordpress.com/information-security/)
Laura Wilson, JD, CISA candidate
Phoenix, AZ
http://www.techlex.com