LeapLab Data Breach (2014)

According to the FTC's complaint, data broker LeapLab bought payday loan applications of financially strapped consumers, and then sold that information to marketers whom it knew had no legitimate need for it. "At least one of those marketers, Ideal Financial Solutions __ a defendant in another FTC case __ allegedly used the information to withdraw millions of dollars from consumers' accounts without their authorization," the FTC said. The FTC charges that the defendants sold approximately five percent of these loan applications to online lenders, who paid them between $10 and $150 per lead. But the defendants also allegedly sold the remaining 95 percent for approximately $0.50 each to third parties who were not online lenders and had no legitimate need for this financial information.