OT: Somebody Emptying Your Brokerage Accounts. We've discussed this possibility before.
-Clark Howard is a consumer reporter out of Atlanta, I think. He recenlty posted this story on his site:
"Check your dormant accounts too!
Christa, Clark’s executive producer, nearly lost everything in one of her brokerage accounts recently. But thankfully she checks her account online several times a week and she prevented it from happening. While randomly checking her account, she saw that all of the stock in their pretty sizeable account was about to be sold. She immediately called the broker and learned that someone in Gainesville, Florida had hacked into her account and was getting ready to wire the money out. The really scary part is that there is no protection of brokerage accounts, but her company – eTrade – was able to get the money safely back in the account. So, if you don’t normally check your brokerage accounts, start! Often, if you’re not taking money out of these accounts, you don’t check them. But you need to. Brokerage firms are also starting “two-factor ID systems” using USB ports and other security methods to verify you are the account owner. But until then, monitor closely."
-I suspect that this is either becoming more of a problem, or at least there's the perception that it's becoming more of a problem because Ameritrade now states this on their site:
"Asset Protection Guarantee
If you lose cash or securities from your account due to unauthorized activity, we'll reimburse you for the cash or shares of securities you lost."
AI
