Hackers break into online broker accounts in USA

[rainbow4321]

http://network-analyzer.blogspot.com/2006/12/hackers-break-into-online-broker.html

High-tech crooks using spyware are costing U.S. discount brokerages millions of dollars to repay clients who have been victimized by fraud

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission warned earlier this month that scammers were hijacking online brokerage accounts using spyware and operating from remote locations. TD Ameritrade Holding Corp. on Tuesday became the latest brokerage to confirm the problem. It said it cost $4 million in the third quarter to make whole customers whose accounts had been hacked.

Harder hit was rival E*Trade Financial Corp., which said its fraud losses ballooned by $18 million in the third quarter from swindlers who stole clients' identities and manipulated their accounts.

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Once inside, the thief may sell off an account's portfolio and take the proceeds. Or electronically hijacked accounts may be used for "pump-and-dump" schemes to manipulate stock prices for profit, SEC officials have said.