So, what would you do?  This Registered Rep from Staten Island, NY, while associated with John Thomas Financial, came into possession of confidential customer information on a computer flash drive.  FINRA wanted to know more, but he chose not to cooperate with the regulator's investigation.  Of course, he was barred from the industry.  But what's intriguing is not what he planned to do with the confidential information - use if for cold calling - but how he was "caught with the goods" by FINRA. In any case, he did what most people would do - he downloaded the non-public customer account information from a FINRA member firm, to subsequently use for "cold-calling" prospective customers.  And why not?  The flash drive contained, among other things, approximately 350 account statements of customers from a FINRA member firm.  Each of the customer account statements contained in the flash drive displayed non-public financial information, including customer names, addresses, account numbers, financial positions, broker ID numbers and account values. After reviewing the contents of the flash drive, Nicholas Dito copied customer account information from the non-public customer account information contained in the flash drive, and sent 2 e-mails of this information.  The First, sent to his firm e-mail address, contained the names and addresses of approximately 300 customers, which Dito had copied directly from FINRA member firm customer account statements contained in the flash drive.  He intended to use the customer account information contained on the first email to cold-call prospective customers. The second e-mail, which Dito sent to his firm email address consisted of a listing of financial positions for a FINRA member firm securities account a customer owned.  FINRA found that the financial positions detailed in the second email showed the customer’s equity stock holdings and their total net value, and Dito copied these financial positions directly from the customer account statements contained on the flash drive, which were identical to the client accounts positions displayed in a customer account  statement a FINRA member firm generated. When confronted with the the fact that he possessed and inappropriately was using confidential customer information, Dito no longer cooperated with FINRA nor answer all of its questions at an on-the-record examination. Fortunately for Mr. Dito, he had not committed much of his career to the industry.  He's still got plenty of creative energy to apply in another profession. For further details, go to:  [AWC #2009020432101, Reported in FINRA's Disciplinary Actions for Sept. 2011].