Ameritrade has admitted that its security has been breached and the contact information of 6.3 million of its customers stolen.
Now many of these users of the online brokerage can expect a storm of spam emails, according to the security software company Sophos. Customers of Ameritrade were assured by the outfit that their confidential details, such as social security numbers and bank account numbers were not exposed when the security lapse occurred.
However, it has already apologized for the spam emails that will result. Graham Cluley, a technology consultant at Sophos, said: "Hackers are now in possession of 6.3 million email addresses for people that they know are interested in trading shares.
"This knowledge alone could spur the creation of highly targeted spam emails, such as 'pump and dump' campaigns which offer bogus share tips to artificially boost stock prices." Ameritrade is one of the largest online brokerages in the world.
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