Millions of current and former TD Ameritrade customers whose contact information may have been stolen more than three years ago will be eligible to receive as much as $2,500 under a new proposed settlement agreement.
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But it’s not clear how many of the 6.2 million TD Ameritrade customers affected will be able to collect anything under the proposed settlement outlined in court documents filed Monday, because the payments will only be offered to identity-theft victims. And most of the payments, which would range between $50 and $2,500 per person, will likely be less than the maximum.
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A federal judge who rejected an earlier settlement agreement also must approve the deal.
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The new proposed settlement, which is the second attempt at resolving the lawsuit, will cost Ameritrade between $2.5 million and $6.5 million. If claims worth more than $6.5 million are submitted, the payments to individuals and the plaintiffs’ lawyers will be reduced.
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The Omaha-based company disclosed the breach in September 2007. Anyone who held an Ameritrade account or provided an e-mail address to the company before then could have been affected by the data theft.
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Ameritrade spokeswoman Kristin Petrick said the company believes the settlement is fair and hopes the judge will approve the deal.
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The plaintiffs said in the lawsuit that they received unwanted stock e-mail ads. The ads appeared to be designed to manipulate the value of thinly traded stocks.
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Last year, U.S. District Judge Vaughn Walker in San Francisco rejected an earlier class-action settlement because it didn’t do enough to benefit the Ameritrade customers affected. A hearing on the new settlement is scheduled for Dec. 23.
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The initial settlement that was rejected offered customers only anti-spam software and a promise of tighter security at TD Ameritrade. Under that deal, the plaintiffs’ lawyers were set to receive nearly $1.9 million in legal fees.
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The new settlement will…