For those personal finance bloggers out there looking for some free promotion for your site, the MoneyBlogNetwork has an opportunity for you.
We're naming a Site of the Week every week -- a spotlight on one specific personal finance blog. If you want to be considered, stop by AllThingsFinancial and email JLP. He's collecting the applications.
Speaking of AllThingsFinancial, I have to say a public thank you to JLP. He's answered a few tax-related questions that FMF readers have had and he's always done a great job -- very thorough. Thanks, JLP!
Finally, AllThingsFinancial has a post on how Ameriprise Looses Data on 230,000 Clients and Advisors that you may want to check out. Here is an overview:
Ameriprise Financial, the investment advisory unit spun off from American Express last year, said today that lists with the personal information of about 230,000 customers and financial advisers were potentially exposed to fraud.
The breach occurred in late December after a company laptop was stolen from an employee's car. It contained lists of reassigned customer accounts that were being stored unencrypted on a computer in violation of Ameriprise's rules.
The information on the laptop included the names and Social Security numbers of more than 70,000 current and former financial advisers and the names and internal account numbers of about 158,000 customers. The data was being stored in separate lists, but it is possible that there could be some overlap between the two.
Are these companies crazy!!!!???? This info is on a laptop -- in a car -- unguarded? When will they learn????
Add Ameriprise Financial to the identity theft blacklist.
Wowsers, that's not safe. Last year, I had an automobile claim and had Progressive assist me. They had an adjuster come out and look at the car and enter a bunch of information in his laptop. The laptop was stolen much later, and they notified me, and activated fraud alerts through the credit bureaus. Just another reason for me to like Progressive. I'm glad I've never dealt with Ameriprise.
Posted by: Joshua K | January 26, 2006 at 02:25 PM