Ameritrade's Stock Spam Problem

[Merlyn]

Very good read:

It seems that the minute that you sign up for a new Ameritrade account, you are bombarded with third party Ameritrade/stock spam. What does this mean? Somewhere during the client signup or login to Ameritrade, the user’s account information (E-mail address at a minimum) is being collected and used to resend spam back to the user.

Full Article at:

http://financial.seekingalpha.com/article/37854

[rconner]

It seems that the minute that you sign up for a new Ameritrade account, you are bombarded with third party Ameritrade/stock spam.

It's a real Hobson's Choice here: either Ameritrade is so demented as to be spamming its own customers with stock spam, or Ameritrade is so clueless as to let scammers hijack its customers' info. Which is worse?

I liked the part where they advised victims to delete the messages and empty their trash cans ("that's right, and make sure you wipe up all the fingerprints for us...").

-- rick

[Merlyn]

I liked the part where they advised victims to delete the messages and empty their trash cans ("that's right, and make sure you wipe up all the fingerprints for us...").

-- rick

That's what makes one wonder if they are the spammers

[qjvgpuryy]

It's a real Hobson's Choice here:

Who is Hobson and what is his choice?

[Farelf]

Who is Hobson and what is his choice?

That'd be the same as "Buckley's" David.

[GraemeL]

Who is Hobson and what is his choice?

Heads I win, tails you lose.

[rconner]

Who is Hobson and what is his choice?

I was using the term in the sense of being offered equally unpalatable alternatives (ref. any U.S. general election), but it appears that the precise meaning is a bit different: To have a Hobson's choice is to be offered a so-called "choice" which represents no choice at all:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobson%27s_choice

So, Hobson's choice bails down to "take it or leave it."

-- rick

[qjvgpuryy]

I was using the term in the sense of being offered equally unpalatable alternatives (ref. any U.S. general election), but it appears that the precise meaning is a bit different: To have a Hobson's choice is to be offered a so-called "choice" which represents no choice at all:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hobson%27s_choice

So, Hobson's choice bails down to "take it or leave it."

-- rick

Thanks for the link. It was very helpful.

That'd be the same as "Buckley's" David.

I had to Google 'Buckley's choice' (without quotes) to understand that one.

[Farelf]

...I had to Google 'Buckley's choice' (without quotes) to understand that one.

Usuall used in the sense of "Buckley's chance" as in there's two chances, buckley's and none. For reasons well known to Melbournians.

Picked up a reference on the topic (Ameritrade and spam) from a NG - Filed under: Spamalot

[rconner]

That's what makes one wonder if they are the spammers

Well, as we know, stockbrokers make money at both ends: whether people or buying or selling. So, perhaps a bit of stock spam to "churn" the market might help put some extra cash in the ol' wallet.

-- rick