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Cosmetics can't hide bad intent of list thief

A Neiman Marcus cosmetics customer list is used by someone intent on extorting money.

By REBECCA CATALANELLO
Published December 10, 2005

TAMPA - A visit to the cosmetics counter doesn't typically lead to harassment. Defined cheekbones, maybe. More radiant skin, sure.

But an undetermined number of Chanel cosmetics customers at Neiman Marcus in International Plaza may have gotten derogatory letters in exchange for stepping up to that mirror-lined counter.

Neiman Marcus is pursuing charges against a man they say took unauthorized possession of a list of 2,000 cosmetics customers' names and addresses and began sending them letters last month in an attempt to extort money from the department store.

Tampa police spokeswoman Laura McElroy wouldn't go into details except to say no charges have been filed and the agency is investigating.

Ginger Reeder, a spokeswoman for Dallas' Neiman Marcus Group, said the incident began in mid August after a sales associate from the Tampa store brought the list home to assist him in composing handwritten notes to frequent customers, notifying them about upcoming special events.

The document included the names, addresses, phone numbers and recent purchasing history of customers at the Chanel counter from September 2004 to March 2005. It did not include Social Security numbers or credit card information, Reeder said.

A female roommate of the sales representative snatched the list, copied it and placed it back in the sales associate's bag, Reeder said. The female roommate then gave the list to her father as what Reeder described as "collateral" for money she owed him, Reeder said.

By October, the man had a personal meeting with the Tampa store manager, Kristine Ottens. He brought two copied pages of the database and demanded that the company hand over several thousand dollars in exchange for the list.

After learning details of how the man got the list, Reeder said the store assumed the situation was "a domestic dispute." The sales associate was disciplined, but not fired, for bringing the list home. And the company began trying to recreate the roster of about 2,000 names.

By November, the company received calls from no more than five customers about having received unsigned anonymous letters telling them that Neiman Marcus was selling their information without their permission. The letter also suggested that Neiman Marcus wasn't trying to fire a specific sales associate for his involvement in the matter.

Around the same time, corporate president Burton Tansky got a signed letter again demanding money and requesting that the sales associate be fired.

"That's when we realized this guy is not going away," Reeder said. The company contacted the Tampa Police Department and then went public, sending letters to 2,000 customers whose names Neiman Marcus fears may have been included on the list.

The letter tells customers that Tampa police will be filing felony charges of theft of trade secrets and extortion against the man. McElroy said no charges have yet been filed.

"We regret that it happened," Reeder said. Thankfully, she said the roster did not include information about people who had spent millions of dollars at the jewelry counter or something similar.

"The bottom line is that it shouldn't have happened to anyone."

[Last modified December 10, 2005, 00:50:10]