Recently, CMG Mortgage, Inc. (“CMG Financial”) confirmed that an unauthorized party may have gained access to certain customers’ personal and financial information, including their Social Security numbers.
If you received a data breach notification, it is essential that you understand what is at risk.
“I speak to data breach victims almost every day, and many don’t fully grasp the impact a breach can have,” attorney Richard P. Console, Jr. said. “Once your sensitive personal data falls into the hands of cybercriminals, you have a much higher risk of identity theft for the rest of your life. If a company allows your personal data to be stolen, holding that company accountable through a class action lawsuit may be the only way to obtain fair compensation and to send a message to other companies to be more careful.”
On average, victims of identity theft spend 200 hours and over $1,300 recovering their identity. Many victims also suffer emotional distress, incur credit damage, discover loans taken out in their name without their knowledge, and may even end up with a criminal record for crimes they did not commit. Taking immediate action is the best way to prevent the worst consequences of a data breach.
What We Know So Far About the CMG Financial Data Breach
According to an official filing by the company, on March 18, 2022, CMG Financial discovered “potential unauthorized access” to certain customers’ information. In response, the company conducted an internal investigation into the incident, confirming that some customer data may have been accessed by the unauthorized party.
The data that may have been accessible to the unauthorized party includes that information normally included on a loan application, such as your name, address, date of birth, Social Security number, driver’s license number, bank account number, and loan application number.
On March 30, 2022, CMG Financial began sending out data breach notification letters to all individuals whose information was compromised as a result of the recent data security incident.
CMG Financial is the customer-facing name of CMG Mortgage, Inc. The company was founded in Pleasanton, California in 1993. CMG Financial is licensed in 50 states and the District of Columbia. The company also holds federal agency lending approvals with HUD, VA, RHS, GNMA, FNMA and FHLMC. CMG Financial employs approximately 760 people and generates annual revenue of roughly $146 million.
Often, data breaches are the result of a hacker gaining unauthorized access to a company’s computer systems with the intention of obtaining sensitive consumer information. While no one can know the reason why a hacker targeted CMG Financial, it is common for hackers and other criminals to identify those companies believed to have weak data security systems or vulnerabilities in their networks.
Once a cybercriminal gains access to a computer network, they can then access and remove any data stored on the compromised servers. While in most cases a company experiencing a data breach can identify which files were accessible, there may be no way for the company to tell which files the hacker actually accessed or whether they removed any data.
While the fact that your information was compromised in a data breach does not necessarily mean it will be used for criminal purposes, being the victim of a data breach puts your sensitive data in the hands of an unauthorized person. As a result, you are at an increased risk of identity theft and other frauds, and criminal use of your information is a possibility that should not be ignored.
Given this reality, individuals who receive a CMG Financial data breach notification should take the situation seriously and remain vigilant in checking for any signs of unauthorized activity. Businesses like CMG Financial are responsible for protecting the consumer data in their possession. If evidence emerges that CMG Financial failed to adequately protect your sensitive information, you may be eligible for financial compensation through a data breach lawsuit.
When customers decided to do business with CMG Financial, they assumed that the company would take their privacy concerns seriously. And it goes without saying that consumers would think twice before giving a company access to their information if they knew it wasn’t going to be secure. Thus, data breaches such as this one raise questions about the adequacy of a company’s data security system.
When a business, government entity, non-profit organization, school, or any other organization accepts and stores consumer data, it also accepts a legal obligation to ensure this information remains private. The United States data breach laws allow consumers to pursue civil data breach claims against organizations that fail to protect their information.
Of course, given the recency of the CMG Financial data breach, the investigation into the incident is still in its early stages. And, as of right now, there is not yet any evidence suggesting CMG Financial is legally responsible for the breach. However, that could change as additional information about the breach and its causes is revealed.
If you have questions about your ability to bring a data breach class action lawsuit against CMG Financial, reach out to a data breach attorney as soon as possible.
If CMG Financial sends you a data breach notification letter, you are among those whose information was compromised in the recent breach. While this isn’t a time to panic, the situation warrants your attention. Below are a few important steps you can take to protect yourself from identity theft and other fraudulent activity:
Identify What Information Was Compromised: The first thing to do after learning of a data breach is to carefully review the data breach letter sent. The letter will tell you what information of yours was accessible to the unauthorized party. Be sure to make a copy of the letter and keep it for your records. If you have trouble understanding the letter or what steps you can take to protect yourself, a data breach lawyer can help.
Limit Future Access to Your Accounts: Once you determine what information of yours was affected by the breach, the safest play is to assume that the hacker orchestrating the attack stole your data. While this may not be the case, it’s better to be safe than sorry. To prevent future access to your accounts, you should change all passwords and security questions for any online account. This includes online banking accounts, credit card accounts, online shopping accounts, and any other account containing your personal information. You should also consider changing your social media account passwords and setting up multi-factor authentication where it is available.
Protect Your Credit and Your Financial Accounts: After a data breach, companies often provide affected parties with free credit monitoring services. Signing up for the free credit monitoring offers some significant protections and doesn’t impact any of your rights to pursue a data breach lawsuit against the company if it turns out they were legally responsible for the breach. You should contact a credit bureau to request a copy of your credit report—even if you do not notice any signs of fraud or unauthorized activity. Adding a fraud alert to your account will provide you with additional protection.
Consider Implementing a Credit Freeze: A credit freeze prevents anyone from accessing your credit report. Credit freezes are free and stay in effect until you remove them. Once a credit freeze is in place, you can temporarily lift the freeze if you need to apply for any type of credit. While placing a credit freeze on your accounts may seem like overkill, given the risks involved, it’s justified. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center (“ITRC”), placing a credit freeze on your account is the “single most effective way to prevent a new credit/financial account from being opened.” However, just 3% of data breach victims place a freeze on their accounts.
Regularly Monitor Your Credit Report and Financial Accounts: Protecting yourself in the wake of a data breach requires an ongoing effort on your part. You should regularly check your credit report and all financial account statements, looking for any signs of unauthorized activity or fraud. You should also call your banks and credit card companies to report the fact that your information was compromised in a data breach.
Below is a copy of the initial data breach letter issued by CMG Mortgage, Inc.:
Dear [Consumer],
We are writing to inform you of an information security incident that may involve certain personal information you provided to CMG Mortgage Inc. (“CMG” or the “Company”). We are providing this notice as a precaution to inform potentially affected individuals about the incident and to call your attention to some steps you can take to help protect yourself. Please be assured that we have taken reasonable steps to address the incident.
What happened
On March 18th, 2022 the Company became aware of a potential unauthorized access of personal information on a small subset of customers. The personal information involved in the incident is commonly included in the application of a loan and may have included your name, address, date of birth, Social Security number, driver’s license number, bank account number, and loan application number. Based on our investigation, it appears you were one of the individuals whose information could be affected by this incident. Please note, at this time, we are not aware of any fraud or misuse of your information as a result of this incident.
We take the privacy of personal information seriously and deeply regret that this incident occurred. We took steps to address the incident promptly after it was discovered, including rebuilding and segmenting affected system and initiating an internal investigation. We regularly take steps to strengthen the security environment of our systems to protect customer data. For example, we are implementing additional layers of protection designed to help prevent unauthorized access in the future and to enhance the security of our systems including implementing multi-factor authentication, further segmenting CMG’s internal network and systems, and upgrading CMG’s document management system.
What we are doing to protect your information
To help protect your identity, we are offering a complimentary 24-month membership of Experian’s® IdentityWorksSM. While identity restoration assistance is immediately available to you, we also encourage you to activate the fraud detection tools available through Experian IdentityWorks as a complimentary two-year membership. This product provides you superior identity detection and resolution of identity theft. To activate your membership & start monitoring your personal information please follow the steps below:
Ensure that you enroll by: [enrollment end date] (Your code will not work after this date.)
Visit the Experian IdentityWorks website to enroll: [URL]
Provide your activation code: [code]
If you have questions about the product, need assistance with identity restoration or would like an alternative to enrolling in Experian IdentityWorks online, please contact Experian’s customer care team at [service number] by [enrollment end date]. Be prepared to provide engagement number as proof of eligibility for the identity restoration services by Experian.
ADDITIONAL DETAILS REGARDING YOUR 24-MONTH EXPERIAN IDENTITYWORKS MEMBERSHIP: A credit card is not required for enrollment in Experian IdentityWorks.
You can contact Experian immediately regarding any fraud issues, and have access to the following features once you enroll in Experian IdentityWorks:
If you believe there was fraudulent use of your information and would like to discuss how you may be able to resolve those issues, please reach out to an Experian agent at [customer service number]. If, after discussing your situation with an agent, it is determined that Identity Restoration support is needed, then an Experian Identity Restoration agent is available to work with you to investigate and resolve each incident of fraud that occurred (including, as appropriate, helping you with contacting credit grantors to dispute charges and close accounts; assisting you in placing a freeze on your credit file with the three major credit bureaus; and assisting you with contacting government agencies to help restore your identity to its proper condition).
Please note that this Identity Restoration support is available to you for 24 months from the date of this letter and does not require any action on your part at this time. The Terms and Conditions for this offer are located at www.ExperianIDWorks.com/restoration. You will also find self-help tips and information about identity protection at this site.
We sincerely apologize for this incident and regret any inconvenience it may cause you. Should you have questions or concerns regarding this matter, please do not hesitate to contact us at [Phone Number] between the hours of 9 AM to 5 PM Eastern time, Monday through Friday or via email at [name]@cmgfi.com. Again, we sincerely regret any concern this incident may cause.
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DISCLAIMER: Because of the generality of this update, the information provided herein may not be applicable in all situations and should not be acted upon without specific legal advice based on particular situations.
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