Categories
Personal

TD Ameritrade Spam

Ther other day it returned. Yes, TD Ameritrade again appears to have leaked the e-mail address they have for me on file to spammers, resulting in such exciting pitches as below:

Did you get in on MBWC yesterday like we suggested?
If so I’m sure you Enjoyed the +25% gains!

Expect more Superb action in days to come from this Hot High Tech
company! A highly anticipated Profit Report is soon to be released and
send MBWC off the charts!

As with most small cap stocks,
you may need to call your broker directly.

Get in on this breakout winner early!

deal with this as it comes down We understood the political pressure that was brought to bear Benjamin Crump an attorney for Andersons parents was in Panama City with the family Tuesday and didnt immediately return APs call for comment
Video: Teen forced to the ground
Videotape of the incident showed Anderson being forced to the ground by various methods

Now TD Ameritrade in my mind has a serious issue. I use a unique e-mail address for EVERY company or group I deal with, and don’t share or overlap these e-mail addresses. This makes it very, very easy to identify who leaks my e-mail addresses, since the spam comes to an address that contains your company’s name.

The first time this happened, I was willing to consider the idea that the leak could have happened anywhere or could have been a conincidence. I changed the e-mail address.

The second time this happened, I suspected that the leak was on TD Ameritrade’s side and forwarded the spam. I received a promise to investigate and was told that it could have been multiple causes. However, I also exchanged communication with another TD Ameritrade client over the Internet who has had similar issues. The suspicion was strong, but I changed my e-mail address to something pretty much unguessable, a pseudo-random set of letters and numbers.

The third time this happened, which started within the past two weeks, I had had enough. I forwarded my complait on to the SEC’s Enforcement Division, which I do hope will contact me back. I don’t care so much about the spam as I do the fact that a company with which I do business is either sharing my e-mail address with these spammers or does not have adequate controls in place to prevent someone from gaining access to my personal information. If someone can gain unauthorized access to my e-mail address, what other information can they access?

Update: Another customer complains of the spam and the useless response of TD Ameritrade.

Categories
Reviews

New Tolkein Book

I read with amusement that there was a ‘new’ Tolkein book being published, since the J.R.R. Tolkein himself hasn’t written any new material since 1973. Still, I will likely pick up a copy, having read several of the fragmented books put out previously by his son Christopher based off drafts of manuscripts and notes.

Categories
Humorous

Things that Make You Go What

From the Only in Japan files…

Categories
News

Flood Watch: Hiatus

My basement is drying as many of my nieghbors begin their cleanup efforts in earnest. Manville remains under a 9 pm curfew, and the police checkpoint at the entrance to my neighborhood will remain for at least a few days.

Nonetheless, I’m off for a long weekend, pre-planned even before the floods, to Arizona. The sunny weather and relaxing pace should provide a welcome boost.

Categories
News

Flood Watch: The Cleanup Begins

Residents throughout Manville who had to leave their homes began returning to the remains today as flood waters receded. As I walked around this morning I saw debris scattered wherever the water had left it, including upturned dumpsters and port-a-potties, among many other items scattered about. Still, the roads were slowly being cleared and the streets were reopening bit by bit throughout the town.

My father and I spent about six hours working on the basement, taking on the two to four inches that had accumulated across the entire floor. We were able to pump out the water and toss out the huge pile of rubbish that resulted from the water exposure.

It will be intertested, in the coming days, to find out more about the full extent of the damages to many of the hours in th neighborhood. Even as I write this the Fire Department is going house to house, pumping out water wherever necessary. And the piles of debris that once were people’s possessions are now piling up on curbs throughout the town.

And, of course, it is always somewhat strange and disconcerting to have to clear a police checkpoint every time you want to return to your house. Better than the alternatives, I suppose, but the feeling is still unusual, to say the least.

Categories
News

Flood Watch: Tuesday Closings

The situation may be improving, but plenty of closures can still be found in Central NJ. Both the Manville Public Schools as well as Rutgers – New Brunswick will both be closed tomorrow. I imagine Bound Brook, Piscataway, and several other of the “Brunswickses” may also be closed.

Categories
News

Flood Watch: Accessibility

I just heard a car drive by, which leads me to believe that I may finally be connected by road to the rest of the world again. While I can’t be sure, this would be an exciting development.

Categories
News

Flood Watch: Heading Down

I haven’t been out since around 9 pm, which was good timing on my part since Manville instituted a 9 pm curfew tonight to try to keep people off the roads and probably from attempting to do any looting/theft as the waters recede. And by 9 pm, the water was already well on its way down from the heights reached earlier in the day. I’m excited at the thought that when I wake up in the morning, the roads may finally be passable.

Although that leads to the next phase, which includes pumping the water out of the basement and tossing out a huge pile of junk down there that is now waterlogged.

Categories
News

Flood Watch: Photo Update

You can see more photos here.

Categories
News

Flood Watch: One for the Record Books

Well, this has been one for the record books. The Raritan and Millstone have crested and started the slow slide down. In terms of river heights it’s definitely #2/#3 around the area, only being beaten handidly by Floyd. In all honesty, that makes Floyd more impressive by comparison. When you consider how Floyd had about a foot of water in the Manville movie theatre, I would have been in several feet of water.

Still, that doesn’t take away from this storm. Large parts of Manville are inaccessible to car traffic, including all the sections of Main Street by the Walmart/Police Station, Dunkin Donuts & church, the entire Weston Canal section (except for an emergency use only overpass over the rail line), and my neighborhood in the Lost Valley.

It certainly hurts the town, and reopens all the memories of Floyd.