Lending Tree has informed its customers that they may have had their personal information compromised in a security breach. Several former employees are believed to be responsible. The company believes they turned over company passwords to the lenders who then used them to access customer files. Those files included sensitive data such as social security numbers, employment info, and addresses. The breach is believed to have occurred between October 2006 and early 2008.

While Lending Tree says it does not believe any identity theft or related criminal activity occurred as a result of the breach, it could face lawsuits from its customers and repercussions from the FTC. The company is suing the three lenders it believes used the passwords fraudulently: Newport Lending Group, Sage Credit Company, and Home Loan Consultants of Newport Beach. None of those lenders has had any comment on the matter.