I've been getting tons of spam supposedly offering me mortgage loans...I can't believe anyone would actually commit to a 30-year mortgage from somebody who spammed them???
According to reporters, spam forms the bottom of a complex ecosystem. Some people respond to the ads asking for more information. The people sending the emails won't write a loan but instead take a bunch of information. They then sell this information through multiple intermediary brokers to major banks, who then follow-up with a phone-call or a letter since they can say that the person has "opted-in." When complaints about a particular list supplier build up the bank can claim plausible deniability.
Many of the defendants’ spam messages, according to the complaint, market mortgage services. When directed by hyperlinks to the defendants’ mortgage services web sites, consumers are asked to provide personal information, ostensibly to be shared with mortgage brokers or banks.
In fact, the complaint alleges, the defendants sell the personal information to “lead” companies, which then sell the information to other “lead” companies. Ultimately, the information winds up in the hands of mortgage lenders and brokers, such as Ameriquest Mortgage Company, Indy Mac Bank, BLS Funding and Mortgage South. The lenders and brokers then contact consumers and offer mortgage services, according to the complaint. Mortgage lead companies that bought the personal information directly from the defendants include Abacus Enterprises and Infinite Leads Marketing. Abacus Enterprises, based in El Cerrito, purchased about 69,000 leads from the defendants in 2004, the complaint alleges.
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