TD Ameritrade Data Theft Settlement Scuttled by Judge; AMTD

| 26 October 2009

TD Ameritrade was nearing a settlement in the case of 6 million stolen email address when the judge, who previously seemed to agree with the proposal, rejected it today.

The breach, which affected account holders prior to September 2007, has yielded no known cases of identity theft. Though the database included social security numbers and account numbers it appears that only email addresses were stolen.

Despite this, apparently a one-year susbscription to some anti-spam software for the victims wasn't enough to appease the judge. The Associated Press is reporting today that the federal judge handling the case has decided the proposed settlement provides "no discernible benefit to the victims" and he rejected the proposed settlement.

No word yet on any revised settlement discussions.

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Tags: TD Ameritrade Legal

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Fact Checker out to lunch?

Matthew Elvey 2009-10-27 17:08:12

HAHAha! 1997? You mean 2007.
SSNs *WERE* STOLEN! The company told HALF its customers that their Social Security numbers had not been retrieved. It didn't say that to the other half, because their numbers were compromised and some were used for new account identity fraud.
Source: http://datalossdb.org/primary_sources/0000/0187/NH_Ameritrade.pdf

Thanks

Dan Olson 2009-10-27 17:24:36

Matthew,

Thanks for the head's up on the date, we fixed it.

I read those letters and all three say that, though SS#s were in the stolen database, there's no evidence that SS#s were retrieved or compromised. If I'm missing it, maybe you can clarify or point it out for us. I'm sure account holders would love to know.

Come again?

Matthew Elvey 2009-11-05 06:31:13

Dan,

Here's a fair analogy: The bank admits thieves were tracked via embedded radio beacon tracking devices getting away with all the silver (the email addresses) that was in the bank's vault, and some of the gold (the far more valuable SS#s) stored in the same vault. However, the bank has refused to track most of the radio beacons in the gold stash because it is desperate to avoid responsibility for the loss of the gold, like the ostrich burying its head in the sand to make the problem go away. Despite the banks refusal, the only logical conclusion is that the thieves took all the gold. I say it's beyond a reasonable doubt. Evidence includes the police report of my SS# being used fraudulently the month after the breach started, and the SS# canaries in the database. Is it a fair analogy? I think so. The the letters have the bank admitting that tracking showed the 'silver' was taken, and that the 'gold' was in the same vault. You have to go a bit further afield for the evid...

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TD Ameritrade Data Theft Settlement Scuttled by Judge; AMTD

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