[FourbyFour]

Well, This morning when I logged into my etrade account it was locked. I contacted etrade and they said that it locked as a precaution because there was a log in from a "non normal" location...meaning I ALWAYS log in from home or the office, there was a log in from Chicago (I live on Long Island, NY).

They said the account was logged into once and no transactions took place, no withdrawels were made and the person hasn't logged in again.

While it's good that nothing was done, my biggest fear is how easy it is to view my info once logged in..you can pretty much click one button and view my SSN, name, adress eTc.


I've since changed my username/password and they're sending me a password key (changes my password every 30 seconds automatically). I contacted my bank and told them to call me in the event there is any unusual account activity or if anyone tries to open a line of credt using my name and SSN.

The security people at etrade have the IP of the system that logged in, but they said they can't give it to me...

What more could I really do?

[vmann7]

Get proactive. Call the etrade security people back and see what they are doing or planning to do, be a PITA. If they have the IP ask what they routinely do to follow up on an attempted log in by an unauthorized user. What were the pages viewed by the person if any. At least this should let you know what was viewed. A smart person can get by the IP but you never know.

If you don't use any of the three credit reporting bureaus get one now, its not much and any attempt to get credit using your info will show up right away.

[Kyoseki]

+1 on keeping a close eye on your credit report.

If you use the same password on any other account (ebay, banks, email) then I would change it asap.

[FourbyFour]

Well some good news:

I spoke with the security person and I asked him how "easy" it is to find my SSN once logged in. He said the only spot to view it is in a certain type of document and that document wasn't viewed.

If anyone has etrade (since my account is temporarily locked) can you please verify this is true? Log in, and try to find ur SSN..let me know if it's under ur account info. thanks.

[FourbyFour]

Originally Posted by vmann7

Get proactive. Call the etrade security people back and see what they are doing or planning to do, be a PITA. If they have the IP ask what they routinely do to follow up on an attempted log in by an unauthorized user. What were the pages viewed by the person if any. At least this should let you know what was viewed. A smart person can get by the IP but you never know.

If you don't use any of the three credit reporting bureaus get one now, its not much and any attempt to get credit using your info will show up right away.

What are those?

[truckie453]

Originally Posted by FourbyFour

What are those?

I know of equifax and experian (there is one more but I forget it's name). You are entitled to get one free report from each of the companies a year so if you stagger it you can check your report three times in one year. Be sure that you are getting the free report and not joining some per month service like the "creecreditreport.com" crap that you hear on the commercials...

Originally Posted by http://www.ftc.gov/freereports

A recent amendment to the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act requires each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion – to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your request, once every 12 months. But there’s only one online source authorized to do so. That’s annualcreditreport.com. Beware of other sites that may look and sound similar.

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) advises consumers who order their free annual credit reports online to be sure to correctly spell annualcreditreport.com, or link to it from the FTC’s website to avoid being misdirected to other websites that offer supposedly free reports,but only with the purchase of other products. While consumers may be offered additional products or services while on the authorized website, they are not required to make a purchase to receive their free annual credit reports. The FTC has received complaints from consumers who thought they were ordering their free annual credit report online. Some consumers responded to TV ads, email offers, or simply searched online.

The FTC recently settled a lawsuit against Consumerinfo.com – which did business as Experian Consumer Direct – over the “free credit report” promotion it advertised on television, radio and the Internet, including its websites freecreditreport.com and consumerinfo.com. If you ordered a free credit report from Consumerinfo between November 1, 2000 and September 15, 2003, and were enrolled in its credit monitoring program, you may be eligible for a refund under the FTC’s settlement.

[vmann7]

Trans union is the third. If someone was able to get your username and password I'd err on the side of caution and fork over the $$ for a years service. In this case its better safe than sorry.

[iluvtruenos]

Just logged into etrade. Can't find it.

[SoCal_HEMIHead]

You might want to look into www.lifelock.com pretty low cost solution to ensure no one is ever able to open an account in your name. I've been a member for a couple years now and it works.

[FourbyFour]

Originally Posted by iluvtruenos

Just logged into etrade. Can't find it.

Even under the "my info" tab?

[iluvtruenos]

Nope. Just basic information, like address, email preferences, I scoured that part for a good ten-fifteen minutes, nothing about a SSN.

Then again, I might just be an idiot and completely overlooked that part.

[dzdiver]

I would start with the following:

1. Go to www.annualcreditreport.com which lets you get a free copy of each credit bureaus report per year.

2. That site also has information on placing fraud alerts and security freezes on your accounts. Consider a security freeze unless you need to open new lines of credit in the near future.

3. Educate yourself on Identity theft. Go to www.ftc.gov for information on the federal laws. Investigate your states laws on the subject. (In California, we have laws that give us some protection that other states don't have).

4. Try to determine how your username/password combination was compromised. Was it a weak password? Do you possibly have a compromised computer at work or home? Etc.

Good Luck!