Ameriprise Laptop Data Stolen

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Ameriprise Laptop Data Stolen

By Credit Federal | Published 01/27/2006

Ameriprise says data laptop stolen
Laptop contained client data, names and social security numbers of company's financial advisers.
January 26, 2006: 1:03 PM EST

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Ameriprise Financial said on Wednesday that a company laptop containing information about 158,000 clients had been stolen from an employee's car.

The company, the fourth-largest U.S. asset manager and brokerage, said it had mailed notification letters last Saturday to the clients whose names and internal account identification numbers had been stored on the computer.

Ameriprise, which was spun off from American Express (Research) last fall, said the laptop also contained the names and social security numbers of an unspecified number of current and former financial advisers and that notifications had been mailed to them too.

The company said it believed the theft was a random "petty burglary" -- not a deliberate effort to breach client accounts -- and that the compromised information had so far not been used improperly. Even so, company spokesman Andy MacMillan told Reuters that the information on clients was so limited -- just names and Ameriprise account numbers -- "that is was of no use to anybody."

"If you open your phone book, you'll get more information on people than you would get about our clients from this laptop," MacMillan said.

Ameriprise said the theft occurred when an employee's vehicle was broken into at "an off-site location." MacMillan declined to say where the incident occurred except that it was not in Minneapolis, the Midwestern U.S. city where Ameriprise is headquartered.

MacMillan said the Ameriprise employee, while cleared to have the information on his laptop and in his possession outside the office, had not complied with company security policies and had been terminated.

"The data didn't have the security it's supposed to have when it's off premises," MacMillan said. "That was a violation of policy."

MacMillan said the 158,000 customers listed in the laptop -- 5.6 percent of Ameriprise's 2.8 million clients -- had one thing in common: they'd recently changed their advisers.

The theft is the latest in a series of high-profile data breaches that have raised concerns about identity theft.

But a study released in December suggested that consumers whose personal information is accidentally compromised actually face little risk of becoming victims of identity theft.

The analysis, performed by ID Analytics, a San Diego, California-based fraud detection company, found that even in the most dangerous data breaches -- where thieves access social security numbers and other sensitive information on consumers they have deliberately targeted -- only about 1 in 1,000 victims had their identities stolen.

Indeed, the party hit hardest by this latest incident is likely to wind up being Ameriprise itself, which reports fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday after the closing bell.

The incident is the latest setback for the company, which has been forced to make a series of embarrassing announcements since debuting as a separate company in late September. These have included a $100 million legal settlement to deal with claims it gave incentives to its advisers to push select mutual funds over funds with better performance and a $57.3 million settlement to deal with charges of illegal mutual fund share trading and brokerage misconduct.

The string of settlements hasn't hurt the company's share price. Since debuting last fall, the company's shares have risen more than 20 percent. Shares in Ameriprise (up $0.34 to $43.55, Research) were up 0.97 percent in mid-day trade on the New York Stock Exchange Thursday.

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Ameriprise Laptop Data Stolen - by <a href=http://creditfederal.com>CreditFederal.com</a> Ameriprise says data laptop stolen Laptop contained client data, names and social security numbers of company's financial advisers. January 26, 2006: 1:03 PM EST CHICAGO (Reuters) - Ameriprise Financial said on Wednesday that a company laptop containing information about 158,000 clients had been stolen from an employee's car. The company, the fourth-largest U.S. asset manager and brokerage, said it had mailed notification letters last Saturday to the clients whose names and internal account identification numbers had been stored on the computer. Ameriprise, which was spun off from American Express (Research) last fall, said the laptop also contained the names and social security numbers of an unspecified number of current and former financial advisers and that notifications had been mailed to them too. The company said it believed the theft was a random "petty burglary" -- not a deliberate effort to breach client accounts -- and that the compromised information had so far not been used improperly. Even so, company spokesman Andy MacMillan told Reuters that the information on clients was so limited -- just names and Ameriprise account numbers -- "that is was of no use to anybody." "If you open your phone book, you'll get more information on people than you would get about our clients from this laptop," MacMillan said. Ameriprise said the theft occurred when an employee's vehicle was broken into at "an off-site location." MacMillan declined to say where the incident occurred except that it was not in Minneapolis, the Midwestern U.S. city where Ameriprise is headquartered. MacMillan said the Ameriprise employee, while cleared to have the information on his laptop and in his possession outside the office, had not complied with company security policies and had been terminated. "The data didn't have the security it's supposed to have when it's off premises," MacMillan said. "That was a violation of policy." MacMillan said the 158,000 customers listed in the laptop -- 5.6 percent of Ameriprise's 2.8 million clients -- had one thing in common: they'd recently changed their advisers. The theft is the latest in a series of high-profile data breaches that have raised concerns about identity theft. But a study released in December suggested that consumers whose personal information is accidentally compromised actually face little risk of becoming victims of identity theft. The analysis, performed by ID Analytics, a San Diego, California-based fraud detection company, found that even in the most dangerous data breaches -- where thieves access social security numbers and other sensitive information on consumers they have deliberately targeted -- only about 1 in 1,000 victims had their identities stolen. Indeed, the party hit hardest by this latest incident is likely to wind up being Ameriprise itself, which reports fourth-quarter earnings on Thursday after the closing bell. The incident is the latest setback for the company, which has been forced to make a series of embarrassing announcements since debuting as a separate company in late September. These have included a $100 million legal settlement to deal with claims it gave incentives to its advisers to push select mutual funds over funds with better performance and a $57.3 million settlement to deal with charges of illegal mutual fund share trading and brokerage misconduct. The string of settlements hasn't hurt the company's share price. Since debuting last fall, the company's shares have risen more than 20 percent. Shares in Ameriprise (up $0.34 to $43.55, Research) were up 0.97 percent in mid-day trade on the New York Stock Exchange Thursday. This article provided courtesy of <a href=http://creditfederal.com target=_new>www.CreditFederal.com</a>, a personal credit resource of good or bad credit credit cards and loans.

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