A sweeping data breach against Mr. Cooper Group has impacted approximately 32,000 reverse mortgage customers, the company disclosed. Mr. Cooper became aware of the breach on Oct. 31, which compromised customer information and forced it to lock down certain technology systems.
“Based on our investigation to date, of the total impacted population, a limited group of approximately 32,000 reverse mortgage customers’ bank account numbers were contained in the files that were affected by this incident,” Mr. Cooper said on a website it has stood up to inform the public about the breach.
The company will actively reach out to any impacted customers to offer “complimentary identity protection and credit monitoring services from TransUnion that we are providing to help protect your personal information going forward,” the company explained.
The breach of bank account information does not appear to have impacted non-reverse mortgage customers, the company said.
“It is important to note that, typically, someone cannot access your financial account using a bank account number alone, which is why we believe any risk to financial information is low,” the company said.
HousingWire reported the Mr. Cooper data breach on Nov. 3, which the company estimates to have affected 14.7 million current and former customers. Company operations partially resumed six days later on Nov. 9, but the attack has exposed the company to additional risk. The company confirmed the compromise of customers’ personal information on Dec. 15.
Mr. Cooper has seen at least four consumer class-action lawsuits filed against it after disclosing the attack, which led other companies — including reverse mortgage industry leader Finance of America Companies — to take steps toward bolstering their defenses against cyberattacks.
Mr. Cooper most recently serviced reverse mortgages under its Champion Mortgage brand, but in July 2021 announced the sale of its reverse mortgage servicing portfolio to Mortgage Assets Management, LLC (MAM). That sale ultimately closed in December of that year, leading the company to credit that sale with solid financial footing in a Q4 2021 earnings call.
