• by Ray Schultz , July 6, 2017

An Arizona marketing company that allegedly conned people into filling out loan applications and then sold their personal data, including email addresses, as leads, has settled charges with the Federal Trade Commission.

Blue Global LLC and its CEO Christopher Kay were listed as defendants in the case.  As part of the settlement, the defendants are prohibited from misrepresenting that they can provide loans at favorable rates, and are required to protect sensitive information about consumers. They also must perform due diligence on firms to which they reveal personal information on individuals.

Also included in the settlement is a $104 million judgment, the purported amount of the revenue for the lead-generation business. However, the judgment has been suspended based on the defendants’ ability to pay. 

According to the complaint filed by the FTC, Kay and Blue Global operated at least 38 internet domains, including 100dayloans.com, 1hour- advance.com and 1hourdirect.com.

They offered to help consumers obtain “a variety of loans, including payday loans for hundreds of dollars, personal and installment loans for as much as $35,000, and auto loans,” the FTC alleged.

However, few loan applications were sold to lenders, the FTC charged. 

Victims were asked for their names, email addresses and phone numbers, the FTC complaint stated. The defendants also sought birthdates, social security numbers, bank routing and account numbers and details such as income, military status and home ownership, it continued.

The email address is considered a key identifier by multichannel marketing firms.

Blue Global did business as Blue Global Media. 

Venture Beat reported that the company’s website is now dead, and that  the sites specified by the FTC now redirect to the FTC’s website. Venture Beat also stated that the firm and Kay have “filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection, listing the FTC as a creditor.” 

The FTC case is on file with the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona.