WASHINGTON (Legal Newsline) – The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) took action recently against T3Leads and Eric V. Sancho in separate cases relating to the online trafficking of personal information.
The CFPB filed complaints that allege T3Leads bought and sold personal information from loan applications without vetting the buyers and the sellers. It further alleges that the T3Leads’ owners unlawfully assisted the company’s violations.
In a different matter, the CFPB ordered Sancho, who operated a company called Lead Publisher, to return $21,151 he allegedly received illegally. Lead Publisher sold leads to fraudulent debt collections, according to the CFPB claims.
“These operators steered consumers toward bad deals and provided no protection from shady characters and unscrupulous lenders,” CFPB Director Richard Cordray said. “This is a reminder to the middlemen who traffic in personal information: if you ignore warning signs that those buying this data are violating the law, you risk the consequences for the harm you are doing to people.”
The CFPB sought to make T3Leads provide monetary relief, as well as have the company clean up its business practices. In the second cade, the CFPB banned Sancho from the industry.