Thousands of Borrowers' Data Exposed from ENCollect Debt Collection Service

An ElasticSearch server instance that was left open on the Internet without a password contained sensitive financial information about loans from Indian and African financial services. The leak, which was discovered by researchers from information security company UpGuard, amounted to 5.8GB and...

The Consumer Bureau's Reckless Plan for Debt Collection

Opinion: A CFPB proposal would create a quandary for consumers. Click and risk a computer virus, or don't click and miss a debt payment...

IRS Scam Leverages Hacked Tax Preparers, Client Bank Accounts

Identity thieves who specialize in tax refund fraud have been busy of late hacking online accounts at multiple tax preparation firms, using them to file phony refund requests. Once the Internal Revenue Service processes the return and deposits money into bank accounts of the hacked firms' clients...

National Consumer Protection Week

March 5–11 is National Consumer Protection Week NCPW, an event to encourage people and businesses to learn more about avoiding scams and understanding consumer rights. During NCPW, the Federal Trade Commission FTC and its fellow agencies highlight free resources to help protect against consumer...

Threat Outbreak Alert: Fake Debt Collection Notification Email Messages on April 8, 2014

Medium Alert ID: 33697 First Published: 2014 April 8 16:40 GMT Last Updated: 2014 April 9 12:24 GMT Version: 2 Summary Cisco Security has detected significant activity related to Spanish-language spam email messages that claim to contain a debt collection notice for the recipient. The text in the...

Threat Outbreak Alert: Fake Debt Collection Notification Email Messages on January 27, 2014

Medium Alert ID: 32586 First Published: 2014 January 27 21:07 GMT Last Updated: 2014 January 29 13:51 GMT Version: 3 Summary Cisco Security has detected significant activity related to spam email messages that claim to contain a debt collection notice for the recipient. The text in the email...

Threat Outbreak Alert: Fake Debt Collection Notification Email Messages on October 1, 2013

Medium Alert ID: 31067 First Published: 2013 October 1 14:40 GMT Version: 1 Summary Cisco Security has detected significant activity related to Italian-language spam email messages that claims to contain a debt collection notification for the recipient. The text in the email message attempts to...

Threat Outbreak Alert: Fake Debt Collection Notice Email Messages on August 13, 2013

Medium Alert ID: 30400 First Published: 2013 August 13 19:55 GMT Version: 1 Summary Cisco Security has detected significant activity related to Italian-language spam email messages that claim to contain a debt collection notice for the recipient. The text in the email message attempts to convince...

FTC: ID theft cases surge

The number of identification theft cases surged in 2008, according to a report .pdf based on the Federal Trade Commission’s annual data. In 2008, ID theft was by far the biggest complaint to the FTC, representing 26 percent of complaints. The next biggest complaint — third party and creditor debt...