Ashley Milano  |  October 13, 2016

Category: Consumer News

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Scottrade class action lawsuitScottrade Inc. is facing a new class action lawsuit accusing the financial brokerage and bank of negligence and breach of contract over the theft of 4.6 million customers’ confidential information.

The Scottrade security breach reportedly occurred from late 2013 to early 2014.

Scottrade believes that the names and street addresses of almost 4.6 million customers may have been compromised during the cyber attack.

More alarming to the plaintiffs is that Scottrade wasn’t even aware that a security breach had occurred until the FBI notified them of it almost a year later in August 2015.

This failure to discover the security breach left many customers potentially vulnerable to identity theft and fraud.

Plaintiffs Andrew Duqum and Stephen Hine took issue with the discount brokerage’s alleged deficient cybersecurity measures and filed class action lawsuits against Scottrade in 2015.

The cases were consolidated in Missouri federal court and was later dismissed in July 2016 on grounds customers had not shown that they suffered damages from the 2013-2014 data breach under the Supreme Court’s recent Spokeo decision.

Now, Hine has refiled his complaint in California Superior Court.

Hine says he opened two brokerage accounts with Scottrade in 2006, and his personal information was exposed because of the breach, according to his lawsuit.

In October 2015, Hine received an email from Scottrade confirming his personally identifiable information (PII) was compromised and taken from Scottrade’s databases between late 2013 and early 2014.

As a result of Scottrade’s alleged wrongful actions relating to the data breach, hackers gained access to Hine’s information and sold it causing Hine to become the victim of identity theft and identity fraud by unauthorized third parties.

According to the 40-page complaint, Scottrade failed to honor its promises to keep sensitive personal information confidential and first disclosed the 2013-2014 data breach over a year after it occurred.

“In breach of its duties, Scottrade’s security measures were not even sufficient to detect the hack, let alone prevent or minimize it. Until the federal government stepped in, Scottrade was unaware of the massive data breach,” the lawsuit states.

Additionally, the lawsuit cites that’s Scottrade suffered another data breach in May 2014 reported by MarketWatch.com in which a Russian national living in New York hacked into brokerage accounts and made unauthorized trades from online accounts at Scottrade and other brokerages.

Hine brings this new class action lawsuit on behalf of himself and all California residents whose personal or financial information was compromised as a result of the data breach first disclosed by Scottrade on Oct. 2, 2015.

The lawsuit asks that the court, among other things, requires Scottrade to pay monetary, statutory and punitive damages to Hine and others.

Hine is also asking for injunctive and declaratory relief as necessary to prevent these acts and practices.

The plaintiff is represented by Geoff Spreter, and Jeffrey Bennion of Spreter Law Firm APC; Timothy G. Blood, Thomas J. O’Reardon II, and Paula R. Brown of Blood Hurst & O’Reardon LLP; and Joseph J. Siprut, Richard L. Miller II, and Richard S. Wilson of Siprut PC, among others.

The Scottrade Data Breach Class Action Lawsuit is Stephen Hine, et al. v. Scottrade Inc., et al., Case No. 37-16-00035493-CU-MC-CTL, in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of San Diego.

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7 thoughts onScottrade Class Action Filed Over Massive Security Breach

  1. GT says:

    I’ve had a Scottrade account since 2008. I received a email from Scottrade in 2015 regarding a data breach with their system I was very upset and cannot fathom the thought of my identity being stolen.

  2. richard says:

    I put my trust in Scottrade and now feel betrayed. No one honors trust any longer.

  3. Susan Conrad says:

    I too have had a Scottrade account for a number of years and was very, very upset by this data breech. At first I was told by Scottrade that it did not involve the value of my portfolio and personal items such a social security number, etc., but later I discovered by Scottrade that this was incorrect. In the months that followed, I ended up having an attempt to access my federal income tax return with the official government site for which I spent numerous hours on the phone with the IRS. (The IRS were the ones who discovered the above & notified me in writing via postal mail!). When I contacted Scottrade I was informed that they would not give me any further information, however, based upon this the IRS issued me a CPO1A IP PIN for filing my returns in the coming years. YES, I’d like to be part of this class action suit. I am in Florida. Please notify me. Thank you.

    1. MANUEL HERNANDEZ says:

      I ALSO HAVE A SCOTTRADE ACCOUNT SINCE 2008 AND HAVE HAD IDENTITY THEFT ISSUES.

    2. Top Class Actions says:

      The case is still moving through the courts and has not yet reached a settlement. Claim forms are usually not made available to consumers until after a court approved settlement is reached. We recommend you sign up for a free account at TopClassActions.com and follow the case. We will update the article with any major case developments or settlement news! Setting up a free account with Top Class Actions will allow you to receive instant updates on ANY article that you ‘Follow’ on our website. A link to creating an account may be found here: https://topclassactions.com/signup/. You can then ‘Follow’ the article above, and get notified immediately when we post updates!

      You can also contact class counsel with any questions about the case or joining the case as a plaintiff. Current counsel is listed in the article and can be Googled for contact information. Good Luck!

  4. kurt schorr says:

    Hello,
    Is it possible for me to join this (*note below) class action lawsuit as a plaintiff. I currently reside in California and have a Scottrade account which I opened in 2005 in California. I am interested in knowing if I can be a member of this class action suit vs Scottrade and if so pls let me know what I need to do to be involved in this class action suit. Please advise.

    Thank you.
    Respectfully,
    K. Schorr

    *The Scottrade Data Breach Class Action Lawsuit is Stephen Hine, et al. v. Scottrade Inc., et al., Case No. 37-16-00035493-CU-MC-CTL, in the Superior Court of the State of California, County of San Diego.

    1. Top Class Actions says:

      The case is still moving through the courts and has not yet reached a settlement. Claim forms are usually not made available to consumers until after a court approved settlement is reached. We recommend you sign up for a free account at TopClassActions.com and follow the case. We will update the article with any major case developments or settlement news! Setting up a free account with Top Class Actions will allow you to receive instant updates on ANY article that you ‘Follow’ on our website. A link to creating an account may be found here: https://topclassactions.com/signup/. You can then ‘Follow’ the article above, and get notified immediately when we post updates!

      You can also contact class counsel with any questions about the case or joining the case as a plaintiff. Current counsel is listed in the article and can be Googled for contact information. Good Luck!

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