Lending Tree Has Data Breach – Offers Poor Advice to Victims
Bad play Lending Tree. Bad play.
(Image used under: Creative Commons 2.0 [SRC])
Apparently a Lending Tree employee gave internal passwords to external lenders without permission. This resulted in people being offered loans by lenders who shouldn't have been able to see their data. While Lending Tree doesn't believe that this particular activity is likely to lead to ID theft, it is a problem nonetheless.
I wasn't going to cover this story because it's so typical of what's happening recently, but this stuck in my craw. In a letter shared with the Consumerist by a reader, Lending Tree is recommending that people get fraud alerts on their accounts as a precaution.
Fraud alerts are practically worthless! Don't even bother. Get a freeze and you'll actually be protected.
Tags: Breaches, Identity Theft, Lending TreeShare This
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There are alot of frustrated consumers out there who though no fault of their own have their identity taken. Companies like Lending Tree leave consumers on their own to spend dozens of hours checking their credit and their bank statements. Meanwhile Lending Tree has filed suit for their own damages because the alledge their employes sold their customer’s private data and it hurt their bussiness.
Why is it that after I recieved my letter from them dated April 30th that when I did an on-line search, a blog stated the letters were mailed out April 21st? Another site posted the situation on April 22nd. Getting me more and more fustrated, Lending Tree dosen’t even have a mention of this low-key hush-hush insident on their very own web-site, not on the home page and not in their “Protecting Your Privacy” company link?!?! And The Protecting Your Privacy link was updated by the web master as late as…March 13th.
I’m a news buff. Give me 24 hour news on tv any day. How come not one media station that I get mentioned this? Not the local, national or international!