Customers of Irvine-based lender loanDepot are struggling to make mortgage payments after the Irvine company was hit by a cyberattack earlier this month.
The hack affected loan processing and phone services for the nation’s fifth-largest retail mortgage lender, according to a Jan. 8 filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The company said its data was encrypted by the “unauthorized third party” who broke into company systems. It said certain unspecified systems were shut down to contain the incident.
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Those system shutdowns are impacting customers who are attempting to make loan payments or begin a loan process, according to multiple users on social media such as Facebook and Twitter.
Dan O’Leary told the Southern California News Group that a week after the hack, he still can’t access the loan servicing portal where he makes payments. That same portal is where customers would request funds from home equity lines of credit, too.
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“I haven’t tried calling yet myself, but others have reported the issues in the comments on their Facebook page,” he said.
LoanDepot said it had contacted law enforcement and was still assessing how the attack might affect its bottom line.
“We are working quickly to understand the extent of the incident and taking steps to minimize its impact,” the company said.
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The incident bore all the hallmarks of a ransomware attack, but company spokesman Jonathan Fine would neither confirm or deny that possibility. The attack apparently began over the Jan. 6-7 weekend.
LoanDepot did not say whether any corporate or customer data was stolen during the break-in or when it was discovered. Ransomware criminals typically steal data before activating malware that…
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