Is someone trying to rip off my IB account?

Discussion in 'Interactive Brokers' started by nonam, Aug 1, 2006.

  1. nonam

    nonam

    Dear IB Customer,

    Your recent Funds & Banking request #xxxxx for account UXXxxx has been rejected. Please view your Funds Status by logging into Account Management, accessible from the Login drop-down list in the upper-right corner of the IB home page. Select Funds Management, then select Funds Status.

    Sincerely,

    Interactive Brokers LLC

    I received the above email today.I have never ever requested funds from my account.Has anyone else received this email?The email looks legitimate but I did not click on any link in it.
    My understanding is that funds cannot be extracted without use of the little secure computing gizmo.Is this correct?Is my s/c gizmo unique to my account or could someone elses gizmo be used?:confused:
     
  2. in order to withdraw funds from your acct u hav to submit a request trough the acct management...u'll receive a token via email that will grant some sort of security. that's the procedure...work from there and try to see if u can find out what happened.
     
  3. Holmes

    Holmes

    account holders with a (I think) greater than 100K balance can request the gizmo.

    that should be reasonably secure

    the smaller account holders work on a "token" that is emailed to them when transfer is requested and which then has to be used in the account management.

    you may have a keylogger or other security breach on the PC that you use to access your account with.

    If you use a seperate PC for browsing / accessing the internet from your trading computer (and use your trading computer for accessing the trading account) you should be pretty safe.

    hope you have been el prompto onto the phone to IB to sort matters out, ET is not the place to ask this kind of questions and get a resolution. Remember with crooks time is crucial in order to catch them. You may consider asking IB to lock any internet access (or change password) until resolved.

    PS I did set up a seperate email account that only gets used for IB - in that way I do not get unsuspectingly a trojan in from other people who send me emails. The rest of the emails get accessed through the web, only the IB ones get downloaded onto the trading PC.

    and no - never have received such and email and hope I never will.

    holmes
     
  4. BKuerbs

    BKuerbs

    Maybe.

    Did you check your computer for viruses and Trojan horses? Best to do so is to boot from a (Linux-)CD and use another virus checker.

    Have a look at the source-code of the email, your Email Program should have an option like "View Sourcecode". Check where the login link given there really points to and check the sender of the email.

    If it is a genuine email from IB then it is possible you caught a Trojan Horse. To try to withdraw funds from your account means someone already got your password. In this case don't use your secure device to withdraw funds yourself, because the transaction number may be caught by a man-in-the-middle-attack. Though the thieves still would have to have access to a bank account opened with your name.

    So, first check the email whether it is genuine. If so, urgently check your computer.

    Hth

    Bernd Kuerbs
     
  5. Here is a real IB funds rejection email. I got it because my bank routing was wrong. Sounds like you got hacked.

    They must have not been able to grab that rejection email before you saw it, because IB ALWAYS sends this token confirmation email first:


    Dear Customer:

    We have received your request to withdraw funds. In order to complete this request, please enter the following confirmation number into the request form.

    Confirmation Token: 68XXX

    This message was automatically generated. If you did not submit this request, please contact Customer Service immediately using the reporting systems (Trouble Ticket or Chat) accessible via Account Management.

    Interactive Brokers
    Customer Service


    Dear IB Customer,

    Your recent Funds & Banking request #XXXXXXX for account UXXXXX has been rejected. Please view your Funds Status by logging into Account Management, accessible from the Login drop-down list in the upper-right corner of the IB home page. Select Funds Management, then select Funds Status.

    Sincerely,

    Interactive Brokers LLC


    Also, if you do a View Source of the rejection email, you can see where the embedded Account Management link points. Mine is like this: "https://www.interactivebrokers.com/Universal/servlet/AccountAccess.Login?forwardTo=5"

    If yours is not the real IB site, then it is simply a phishing attack and probably not a hack. But I'd definitely tell IB about it!


    I recommend getting the Secure Transaction device. It's easy enough to use and nobody can rip you off, unless they steal the thing from your house and get your PIN.

    Good luck.
     
  6. There seems to be some problem at IB end I got the same message on all the accounts I have with IB.
     
  7. I got the same message this morning. I checked my Funds Status and there was no request made as far as I could tell.
     
  8. nonam

    nonam

    Everyone please note that my opening message says that I have the secure computing device.
    My AVG is up to date and has found nothing.
    I use Yahoo email and cannot find anything about the source of the email.
    Its possible this is an IB screwup.A few months ago I received an email from them offering me a secure computing device.I replied that I already had one and asked how long the battery would last.They replied that they would find out and get back to me.But they never did.

    My additional defences:zone alarm,win patrol,startup inspector,spybot,spyware blaster,adaware,crap cleaner.
     
  9. Yes, I received the same rejection notice today. Might be IB's error or a massive email fraud.
     
  10. nonam

    nonam

    Thanks Bernoulli
     
    #10     Aug 1, 2006