Mortgage giant Mr Cooper uses alternative payment options after cyber attack

Texas-based mortgage giant Cooper is offering customers alternative ways to repay their loans after an Oct. 31 cyberattack.

In instructions updated Monday, the company offered its customers several different ways to make payments, including by phone, mail, Western Union and MoneyGram. There is also a unique web payment option.

The company claims to have more than 4.3 million customers and is the largest non-bank mortgage servicer in the United States. It provides services and installations to homeowners nationwide and manages a $937 billion service portfolio.

On Wednesday, customers trying to log into Mr. Cooper’s website to pay their mortgages or loans were greeted with a message saying the company was suffering a technical outage.

The company later reported that a cyberattack had seriously affected its systems. They did not respond to requests for comment on whether they were experiencing a ransomware attack.

“On October 31, Mr. Cooper became the target of a cybersecurity incident and took immediate action to lock down our systems to protect your data. Our systems remain locked down and we are working toward a resolution as quickly as possible,” the company said on a temporary website dedicated to providing updates on the situation.

“Rest assured, you will not have to pay any fees, penalties or negative credit reports related to late payments while we work to resolve this issue. However, in an effort to protect customer systems and data, we have temporarily updated our available payment options.

After discovering the attack, the IT team deployed “containment measures to protect customer systems and data, as well as to shut down certain systems.”

The company added that it was investigating the incident to determine whether any data was stolen. If they discover that the data has been accessed or taken by hackers, the company promises to provide victims with identity protection services.

Last week, the Federal Trade Commission raised concerns about cyberattacks against non-bank financial institutions and approved a new rule this will require them to report data breaches and security events within 30 days.

Jonathan Greig

Jonathan Greig is a breaking news reporter at Recorded Future News. Jonathan has worked as a journalist around the world since 2014. Before returning to New York, he worked for media outlets in South Africa, Jordan and Cambodia. He previously covered cybersecurity at ZDNet and TechRepublic.