When most people think of telemarketing companies and possible concerns associated with them, they probably mostly fear being disturbed by phone calls right as they’re about to sit down to hot dinners. However, representatives from the MacKeeper Security Research Center recently found evidence suggesting individuals need to be wary of data leaks associated with telemarketers too.
Sensitive Data Made Publicly Available Through Audio Files
According to MacKeeper, analysts found an unsecured server of audio files in mid-January that contained 400,000 telemarketing calls. Over 17,500 of the compromised files included private customer data, including credit card details. In total, there were 28GB of files on the server, which was owned by VICI Marketing. After being alerted about the lack of security, the company locked down the server.
The Company Has Been in Trouble Over How It Conducted Business Before
This is not the first time VICI Marketing has landed in hot water over the methods company representatives applied to customer data. In 2009, the company paid $350,000 to settle with the Florida Attorney General’s Office in response to a case that accused the company of obtaining stolen data without making sure the details were acquired legitimately.
The Attorney General’s Office stated how VICI Marketing claimed it ceased customer-based telemarketing at the end of 2007 and had planned to focus on B2B sales. The company was mandated to take certain actions before it would be allowed to participate in telemarketing again.
However, there were even dubious practices associated with the company’s sales techniques. It had to pay $46,500 in fines once representatives from the Florida Department of Agriculture’s Division of Consumer Services discovered nearly 100 unlicensed salespersons working for VICI Marketing in 2007. Some of those individuals had criminal backgrounds.
Customers Were Informed About Recordings of Calls
If you’ve ever contacted your bank for assistance by phone, talked to an e-commerce company to track an order that’s taken too long to arrive or given telephone-based feedback about service received, you have probably been informed the call was being recorded for quality assurance purposes.
Although that’s a common practice, it’s important to note that each telemarketing agency is individually responsible for how they store and protect the consumer information they gather, whether such data is obtained in-house or through third-party services. Even when gathering consumer information from a telephone list provider, the responsibility of properly maintaining that list lies with the receiving company.
Since VICI Marketing handled its own data and put its files on an unsecured server, this situation is quite unfortunate for the organization.
What Does This Situation Mean for Affected Customers?
The investigation into the VICI Marketing breach is still ongoing, and representatives have said they expect it to take a while to complete. As a result, specifics have not been given about how VICI Marketing will deal with the customers who had data stolen. Now that the news has broken, though, VICI Marketing may want to take decisive action similar to what Neiman Marcus did in response to its own data breach that included customer credit card data: Write an apology letter.
After depending on its CEO to pen customer correspondence that explained the depth of the incident and the kinds of information compromised, the luxury retailer tried to restore customer confidence by offering a year of free credit monitoring to anyone who shopped at Neiman Marcus with a credit card.
However, VICI Marketing would also need to go a step further and take steps to demonstrate it has done what’s necessary to greatly minimize the chances of another breach occurring in the future. After all, many people have an unfavorable view of telemarketing companies, and this news won’t help that perception.
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About the Author
Kayla Matthews is a tech-loving blogger who writes and edits ProductivityBytes.com. Follow her on Twitter to read all of her latest posts!
Image by Mauel
