Ameritrade Loses Data of 200,000 Customers

Although it may not be a case of identity theft yet, Ameritrade has disclosed it is missing a backup tape containing nearly 200,000 current and former customers' personal information.

The company says that the tape has been missing since February, when the box it was shipped in was damaged. Three of the four tapes were recovered, but the fourth has yet to be located.

Notices are now being mailed to customers who may have been affected. Ameritrade says social security numbers may have been part of the information lost.

The company said that they themselves did not lose the data, as the hardware was being shipped by a third party. Thus far, Ameritrade has not yet received any reports of identity theft.

"We are very confident that no harm has been done to any clients, to their accounts, to their information," the company said.