A Portland customer was recently alarmed when he opened a letter to find Countrywide Mortgage Company informing him that there was a breach in security, that a former Countrywide employee sold personal information to a third party.

Jim Britt, of Portland, says he was bothered when he received an urgent security notification from his home mortgage company.

He wondered if they were trying to sell him something

Britt had three home loans with Countrywide. He’s convinced they had personal bank information, his social security number, and other application information.

”When that happens, you really freak out. “He said.

He was confused when he read the letter and how it stated that Britt must place fraud alerts on your credit card reports, and he had to review account activity, and to take action and review all account statements.

Background: Countrywide ID theft

“Frustration is just the beginning.” Britt said.

That frustration grew when he tried calling the 1-800 number on the letter for detailed information. Trouble is, the number didn’t go to Countrywide at all. Instead, it went to a company hired by Countrywide.

News Channel 8 obtained criminal complaints against two men arrested in Los Angeles for downloading Countrywise files and selling them.

According to the documents, Rene L. Rebollo, Jr., 36, of Pasadena and Wahid Siddiqi, 25, of Thousand Oaks made up to $70,000.

The Los Angeles bureau of the FBI states they saved the load data on flash drives and either sold them directly to clients or e-mailed the contents.

In all, the two are accused of downloading $20,000 Countrywide Home Loan customer profiles every week for two years.