Personal information from two Colorado mortgage companies found in dumpsters
Technorati Tag: Security Breach
Date Reported:
4/28/08
Organization:
Cove Creek Mortgage
Front Range Mortgage, LLC
Contractor/Consultant/Branch:
None
Victims:
Customers
Number Affected:
Unknown
Types of Data:
Mortgage files, tax returns, pay stubs, Social Security numbers, and other personal information
Breach Description:
"ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The Arapahoe County District Attorney's Office is advising anyone who has used Cove Creek Mortgage to watch out for identity theft after hundreds of mortgage files were dumped in a public trash bin over the weekend."
Reference URL:
Denver Channel 7 News
Denver Channel 7 News (update)
Report Credit:
Denver Channel 7 News
Response:
From the online sources cited above:
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The Arapahoe County District Attorney's Office is advising anyone who has used Cove Creek Mortgage to watch out for identity theft after hundreds of mortgage files were dumped in a public trash bin over the weekend.
[Evan] Cove Creek Mortgage joins the ranks of other mortgage companies reported for similar breaches on The Breach Blog. The others are Affordable Realty and Union Mortgage Services of Cleveland, Inc..
Cove Creek's owner had abandoned his Englewood office in January, and property managers had not been able to find him
[Evan] What kind of businessman just abandons an office full of confidential files and equipment?
On Saturday, the property manager had a crew clean out his office and throw all items from the office -- including complete mortgage files -- into two Dumpsters.
[Evan] Maybe the property manager should pay a little closer attention to the things they throw in the dumpster. Having said this, the property manager is not really at fault.
David Peters who works in the same complex found the files Monday morning.
"I was taking some other trash out to the garbage can and opened the lid and on there was a couple of laptops,"
"Directly underneath them were files with people's names on it and I was like, 'Well, this is not right.'"
"There were tax returns, pay stubs, everything in there," he said. "And as I looked at the different files I realized that it was mortgage files, which was kind of scary, because who do you disclose the most information to or all of your information? That is when you are getting a mortgage loan."
[Evan] According to the news report, Mr. Peters contacted authorities. This could have easily been much worse for victims.
The Dumpsters were not secured and located at 88 Inverness Drive East, Bldg. F.
Sheriff's investigators finally found the owner of Cove Creek and talked him into retrieving the files, many of which had private information, including Social Security numbers and credit history.
[Evan] Mr. owner guy, will you please come get your stuff and the personal information that was entrusted to you? According to zoominfo a guy named Charlie Cartwright is/was the president of Cove Creek Mortgage. I have no idea if this is the same guy that is referred to in the news article.
The district aAttorney's office got a tip about numerous mortgage files and two laptop computers in a Dumpster behind offices formerly used by Cove Creek Mortgage and Front Range Mortgage.
[Evan] Now Front Range Mortgage joins the ranks. Front Range Mortgage offers credit repair services too! Do you suppose they could have repaired the damage that could have been done?
"With a name, Social Security number and bank account number, they can clean you out before you even know," said Arapahoe County District Attorney Carol Chambers.
The files and computers contained sensitive information on many former customers of Front Range Mortgage, including names and addresses, Social Security numbers and bank, credit card and investment account information.
While there are civil laws against dumping such documentation, Chambers said it is not against the law.
[Evan] It's too bad that we have to write and enforce laws to protect us from idiots.
"I think it is a matter of legislation not catching up with the realities of identity theft," said Chambers. "And absolutely, we think recklessly disposing or negligently disposing of this kind of information should maybe carry a criminal penalty, just to get people's attention that you can't just leave this information or leave it out in a Dumpster."
"The district attorney recommends that any former customers of Front Range or Cove Creek should place a fraud alert on their credit reports and monitor any bank, credit card or investment accounts that might have been included on a mortgage application with that firm."
For further information, assistance or questions, call the District Attorney's Fraud Assistance Line at .
Commentary:
What is with these mortgage companies? The 90's and early 2000's was a wild ride for mortgage brokers, real estate agents, and investors. The money attracted people from all walks of life and a lot of poor decisions were made. Now that the bubble has burst, we start to see the true colors of some of these "professionals".
I don't know much if anything about the owners of these companies, but I do know that securing personal information poorly is bad business.
Past Breaches:
Unknown
Date Reported:4/28/08
Organization:
Cove Creek Mortgage
Front Range Mortgage, LLC
Contractor/Consultant/Branch:
None
Victims:
Customers
Number Affected:
Unknown
Types of Data:
Mortgage files, tax returns, pay stubs, Social Security numbers, and other personal information
Breach Description:
"ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The Arapahoe County District Attorney's Office is advising anyone who has used Cove Creek Mortgage to watch out for identity theft after hundreds of mortgage files were dumped in a public trash bin over the weekend."
Reference URL:
Denver Channel 7 News
Denver Channel 7 News (update)
Report Credit:
Denver Channel 7 News
Response:
From the online sources cited above:
ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- The Arapahoe County District Attorney's Office is advising anyone who has used Cove Creek Mortgage to watch out for identity theft after hundreds of mortgage files were dumped in a public trash bin over the weekend.
[Evan] Cove Creek Mortgage joins the ranks of other mortgage companies reported for similar breaches on The Breach Blog. The others are Affordable Realty and Union Mortgage Services of Cleveland, Inc..
Cove Creek's owner had abandoned his Englewood office in January, and property managers had not been able to find him
[Evan] What kind of businessman just abandons an office full of confidential files and equipment?
On Saturday, the property manager had a crew clean out his office and throw all items from the office -- including complete mortgage files -- into two Dumpsters.
[Evan] Maybe the property manager should pay a little closer attention to the things they throw in the dumpster. Having said this, the property manager is not really at fault.
David Peters who works in the same complex found the files Monday morning.
"I was taking some other trash out to the garbage can and opened the lid and on there was a couple of laptops,"
"Directly underneath them were files with people's names on it and I was like, 'Well, this is not right.'"
"There were tax returns, pay stubs, everything in there," he said. "And as I looked at the different files I realized that it was mortgage files, which was kind of scary, because who do you disclose the most information to or all of your information? That is when you are getting a mortgage loan."
[Evan] According to the news report, Mr. Peters contacted authorities. This could have easily been much worse for victims.
The Dumpsters were not secured and located at 88 Inverness Drive East, Bldg. F.
Sheriff's investigators finally found the owner of Cove Creek and talked him into retrieving the files, many of which had private information, including Social Security numbers and credit history.
[Evan] Mr. owner guy, will you please come get your stuff and the personal information that was entrusted to you? According to zoominfo a guy named Charlie Cartwright is/was the president of Cove Creek Mortgage. I have no idea if this is the same guy that is referred to in the news article.
The district aAttorney's office got a tip about numerous mortgage files and two laptop computers in a Dumpster behind offices formerly used by Cove Creek Mortgage and Front Range Mortgage.
[Evan] Now Front Range Mortgage joins the ranks. Front Range Mortgage offers credit repair services too! Do you suppose they could have repaired the damage that could have been done?
"With a name, Social Security number and bank account number, they can clean you out before you even know," said Arapahoe County District Attorney Carol Chambers.
The files and computers contained sensitive information on many former customers of Front Range Mortgage, including names and addresses, Social Security numbers and bank, credit card and investment account information.
While there are civil laws against dumping such documentation, Chambers said it is not against the law.
[Evan] It's too bad that we have to write and enforce laws to protect us from idiots.
"I think it is a matter of legislation not catching up with the realities of identity theft," said Chambers. "And absolutely, we think recklessly disposing or negligently disposing of this kind of information should maybe carry a criminal penalty, just to get people's attention that you can't just leave this information or leave it out in a Dumpster."
"The district attorney recommends that any former customers of Front Range or Cove Creek should place a fraud alert on their credit reports and monitor any bank, credit card or investment accounts that might have been included on a mortgage application with that firm."
For further information, assistance or questions, call the District Attorney's Fraud Assistance Line at .
Commentary:
What is with these mortgage companies? The 90's and early 2000's was a wild ride for mortgage brokers, real estate agents, and investors. The money attracted people from all walks of life and a lot of poor decisions were made. Now that the bubble has burst, we start to see the true colors of some of these "professionals".
I don't know much if anything about the owners of these companies, but I do know that securing personal information poorly is bad business.
Past Breaches:
Unknown
Posted by Evan Francen at 5/7/2008 10:10 PM 
Categories: Cove Creek Mortgage, Insecure Discard, Front Range Mortgage
Categories: Cove Creek Mortgage, Insecure Discard, Front Range Mortgage
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