I'm a Countrywide Home Financial customer... Is it not enough that I have to deal with their retarded website?

Fortunately I have no money, and with my credit rating, the only way it can go is up. The bloke that bought my customer profile got ripped off.

Those of us with loans from Countrywide would like to know.

>> ...downloaded 20,000 customer profiles including names and

>> social security numbers just about every week for about two years

Why was this financial analyst allowed access to that data in the first place? Is that normal? Does the janitor have similar access???

Why on earth would Bank of America take on a sub-prime lender in the current market? Apart from paying peanuts.

Posted anon as I work at a Bank of America subsidiary which has very strict security in place. That is all but 4 internet computers usable by any staff on our break-out floor - which also have access to customer data!

Mines the one with MUG written on the back.

I emailed their fraud unit to see what they are doing about this and got this autorespond...

Thank you for contacting the Fraud Hotline. Countrywide values its customer relations and is committed to safeguarding their financial information. Because this responsibility is a top priority for Countrywide, we notify customer if there is a reason to believe that their sensitive information has been disclosed to an unauthorized person. Upon notification, the customers are provide with a toll-free number that directs them to call Countrywide’s Special Services Hotline answered by customer service representatives who have been specially trained to assist customer in such situations.

If you are a Countrywide Mortgage Customer, please contact our Countrywide’s Special Services Hotline at 1-866-451-5895. This toll-free number can also be found in the notification letter that you may have received.

If you are a Countrywide Bank Customer, please contact our Countrywide Bank’s Special Services Hotline at 1-877-200-0117. This toll-free number can also be found in the notification letter that you may have received.

If you are a reporter and this is a media inquiry, please contact Countrywide's Public Relations Media Hotline at 1-800-796-8448.

Thank You,

Fraud Hotline

Countrywide Home Loans

30930 Russell Ranch Rd

Mailstop: WLRR-469

Westlake Village, CA 91362

Seems a bit steep for a list of people who cant aford to pay thier mortages.

Could you recoup the $700 by knocking people of your mailing list and saving postage?

Now where have we all heard this story before?

That's right, it was the IRS and the US Gov purchasing STOLEN information from an ex Luxumberg employee.

How can they charge this guy when they have done exactly the same thing.

Way to go assholes.

US needs to go dick themselves and then suck on it to realise what shit actually tastes like.

...but each week for two years, he downloads 20,000 customer details. Call that a hundred weeks. He sells these 20,000 customer details for $500. So I make that $50,000 raised by this scam.

Where do the prosecution get $70,000 from?

How long before a Phorm or Nebuad employee does the same?

Being a financial analyst, he had to be able to determine the credit-worthiness of customers. That means having access to individual records. This is basically an inside job--always the toughest thefts to control. Somewhere along the line, SOMEONE has to have access to the data. And at some point, according to statistics, THAT someone is going to be a double agent.

Noticed that the guy did the stealing could get 5 years but the buyer could get 15 years. Make sense.

Mentioned in the article that an un-protected PC (we'll assume Windows) let him grab the data. One thing I've noticed is that there is no company that sells USB/CD/DVD protection for Macs or linux [last i checked]. Major hole in any company. A Good reason to cut them off the network. :-)