Mortgage documents found at a Florida recycle center
Technorati Tag: Security Breach
Date Reported:
12/8/08
Organization:
Empire Equity Group
Contractor/Consultant/Branch:
1st Metropolitan Mortgage
Location:
near West Palm Beach, Florida
Victims:
Customer (mortgage applicants)
Number Affected:
"more than 200 files"
Types of Data:
Mortgage paperwork including "fax numbers, phone numbers, social security numbers"
Breach Description:
Mortgage paperwork belonging to customers of 1st Metropolitan Mortgage (and possibly other companies) was discovered at a drop-off office recycling center near West Palm Beach, Florida. The mortgage paperwork contained sensitive personal information.
Reference URL:
CBS News Channel 12
Report Credit:
Chuck Weber, CBS News Channel 12
Response:
From the online source cited above:
someone used a drop-off office recycling site near West Palm Beach, for to throwing away more than 200 files with sensitive information.
Chuck Mata made the discovery Monday morning, while dropping off recycling items from his own workplace.
"We always use this dumpster," said Mata.
But on this trip Mata came across the files containing mortgage paperwork.
"It's got the fax numbers, phone numbers, social security numbers," he said.
When CBS 12 inspected a sampling the forms in the dumpster, we saw most dates ranging from 2002 to 2004.
The mortgage applicants were mostly from Miami-Dade and Broward Counties.
And on the forms-- sure enough-- lots of social security numbers and other personal information.
"Spooky," said Mata. "I mean it could have been me, it could have been you. It all should have been shredded."
Mata had called the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.
When deputies arrived, they said they didn't believe a crime had been committed.
[Evan] The organization(s) responsible are required by Florida law to notify the affected persons. There isn't any penalty for disclosing the information in the first place.
Still the deputies tried locating the companies listed on the documents.
Unable to connect them, the two deputies started bagging and boxing the documents.
The deputies said the paperwork was headed back to headquarters where it will be destroyed. There were easily more than 200 files.
[Evan] You don't often hear of a police department destroying evidence. They would probably prefer to not be in the document destruction business.
"This is very shoddy business practices," said Mata. "I mean this is like you handing criminals your personal information, giving them the go-ahead to steal from you."
[Evan] I agree with Mr. Mata. Shoddy to the point of negligence.
The company names that appeared on the documents were 1st Metropolitan Mortgage and Empire Equity.
[Evan] There have been at least a half dozen breaches involving mortgage companies unsecurely discarding confidential documents reported on The Breach Blog this year. I'm guessing there are thousands more.
Both entities are based in North Carolina. CBS 12 was referred to someone in the legal department, who was unavailable.
Commentary:
I wonder if these documents were disposed of because of business failure. Well, now that I think of it, this incident is a business failure. Document retention and destruction security is important in all organizations with sensitive documents. Sounds obvious doesn't it?
Past Breaches:
Unknown
Date Reported:12/8/08
Organization:
Empire Equity Group
Contractor/Consultant/Branch:
1st Metropolitan Mortgage
Location:
near West Palm Beach, Florida
Victims:
Customer (mortgage applicants)
Number Affected:
"more than 200 files"
Types of Data:
Mortgage paperwork including "fax numbers, phone numbers, social security numbers"
Breach Description:
Mortgage paperwork belonging to customers of 1st Metropolitan Mortgage (and possibly other companies) was discovered at a drop-off office recycling center near West Palm Beach, Florida. The mortgage paperwork contained sensitive personal information.
Reference URL:
CBS News Channel 12
Report Credit:
Chuck Weber, CBS News Channel 12
Response:
From the online source cited above:
someone used a drop-off office recycling site near West Palm Beach, for to throwing away more than 200 files with sensitive information.
Chuck Mata made the discovery Monday morning, while dropping off recycling items from his own workplace.
"We always use this dumpster," said Mata.
But on this trip Mata came across the files containing mortgage paperwork.
"It's got the fax numbers, phone numbers, social security numbers," he said.
When CBS 12 inspected a sampling the forms in the dumpster, we saw most dates ranging from 2002 to 2004.
The mortgage applicants were mostly from Miami-Dade and Broward Counties.
And on the forms-- sure enough-- lots of social security numbers and other personal information.
"Spooky," said Mata. "I mean it could have been me, it could have been you. It all should have been shredded."
Mata had called the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office.
When deputies arrived, they said they didn't believe a crime had been committed.
[Evan] The organization(s) responsible are required by Florida law to notify the affected persons. There isn't any penalty for disclosing the information in the first place.
Still the deputies tried locating the companies listed on the documents.
Unable to connect them, the two deputies started bagging and boxing the documents.
The deputies said the paperwork was headed back to headquarters where it will be destroyed. There were easily more than 200 files.
[Evan] You don't often hear of a police department destroying evidence. They would probably prefer to not be in the document destruction business.
"This is very shoddy business practices," said Mata. "I mean this is like you handing criminals your personal information, giving them the go-ahead to steal from you."
[Evan] I agree with Mr. Mata. Shoddy to the point of negligence.
The company names that appeared on the documents were 1st Metropolitan Mortgage and Empire Equity.
[Evan] There have been at least a half dozen breaches involving mortgage companies unsecurely discarding confidential documents reported on The Breach Blog this year. I'm guessing there are thousands more.
Both entities are based in North Carolina. CBS 12 was referred to someone in the legal department, who was unavailable.
Commentary:
I wonder if these documents were disposed of because of business failure. Well, now that I think of it, this incident is a business failure. Document retention and destruction security is important in all organizations with sensitive documents. Sounds obvious doesn't it?
Past Breaches:
Unknown
Posted by Evan Francen at 12/21/2008 9:25 PM 
Categories: 1st Metropolitan Mortgage, Empire Equity Group, Insecure Discard
Categories: 1st Metropolitan Mortgage, Empire Equity Group, Insecure Discard
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