ID thieves hit customers at TD Ameritrade, E-Trade

24.10.2006

Charles Schwab Corp., the largest online broker in terms of assets, told Bloomberg News it did not suffer significant losses, while Fidelity Investments declined to comment.

E-Trade ranked 17th out of 23 financial institutions for its efforts to protect consumers from identity theft, according to a study released earlier this month by Javelin Strategy & Research of Pleasanton, Calif. The study, which mostly ranked banks, did not rank TD Ameritrade.

Identity theft last year caused an estimated $56.6 billion in losses, according to Javelin, and the number of people affected by online identity crime has risen from fewer than one in 125 to an estimated one in 65.

"Fighting identity theft is a cat and mouse game -- there's always room for improvement," said James Van Dyke, president of Javelin.

While the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. covers bank accounts with up to $100,000 against fraud or bank bankruptcy, brokerages get no such protection. E-Trade and TD Ameritrade both guarantee customers against losses caused by fraud.