Data Broker Is Charged With Selling Consumers' Financial Details to 'Fraudsters' - NYTimes.com

Data broker broken

"The complaints are part of a multiyear government crackdown on fraudulent debt collection and other scams that target people in financial distress. But the case against LeapLab indicates that federal regulators are now widening their investigation to include the middlemen who traffic in the kind of closely held consumer details that can make consumers vulnerable to financial scams.

“We have been targeting the actual fraudsters for years. Now we are really trying to move behind the scenes and target the data brokers,” Jessica L. Rich, the director of the F.T.C.’s Bureau of Consumer Protection, said in a phone interview on Tuesday. “The message is that selling consumers’ highly sensitive data to third parties, with either the knowledge or a strong suspicion that they have no legitimate need for it, violates the law.”"

Data Broker Is Charged With Selling Consumers' Financial Details to 'Fraudsters' - NYTimes.com