Data Broker Defendants Settle FTC Charges They Sold Sensitive Personal Information to Scammers

A group of defendants have settled Federal Trade Commission charges that they knowingly provided scammers with hundreds of thousands of consumers’ sensitive personal information – including Social Security and bank account numbers. The proposed federal court orders prohibit John Ayers, LeapLab and Leads Company from selling or transferring sensitive personal information about consumers to third parties. The defendants will also be prohibited from misleading consumers about the terms of a loan offer or the likelihood of getting a loan. In addition, the settlements require the defendants to destroy any consumer data in their possession within 30 days. The orders include a $5.7 million monetary judgment, which is suspended based on the defendants sworn inability to pay. In addition to the settlement orders, the court entered an unsuspended $4.1 million default judgment with similar prohibitions against SiteSearch, the remaining defendant in the case.