By
Godfrey Benjamin
April 22nd, 2024
In a move to protect customers from any threats, this week Robinhood encouraged users to implement such measures as two-factor authentication.
Hackers have yet again hit Robinhood and compromised nearly 2,000 accounts in a recent hacking spree. The latest hack is one of those vicious episodes that the popular retail stock investment app Robinhood has continually faced.
Last week, Robinhood stated that only “a limited number” of customers’ accounts had been struck by hackers breaching their personal email data outside of its platform.
An unidentified individual who was aware of the internal review being carried out asserted that the company’s continuous investigation revealed even more affected numbers. As the accounts increased in numbers, Robinhood admitted took almost two weeks to reveal the compromise.
Push Notifications
In a move to protect customers from even more damage, this week Robinhood encouraged users to implement protective measures such as two-factor authentication. Using a push notification it sent to its customers via its app, it emphasized that a 2FA adds a strong layer of protection to an account.
In case Robinhood receives a potential hack or fraud notification from any customer, it would restrict account dealings, log out the user from all devices, investigate any unauthorized access, then, ask the customer to change an existing password.
A company’s spokesperson stated the following during an interview with Business Insider:
“We always respond to customers reporting fraudulent or suspicious activity and work as quickly as possible to complete investigations. The security of Robinhood customer accounts is a top priority, and something we take very seriously.”
Slow Response to the Hack Leaves Robinhood Customers Frustrated
This security breach is perhaps the largest and severest in the history of Robinhood as some clients even claimed that they had set up two-factor authentication, but attackers were able to steal access to brokerage accounts.
Most customers claimed that hackers took their investments, liquidated them and later withdrew balances to currently investigated online payment apps such as Revolut. Although the fraction affected seems small compared to the 13 million users on the platform, the exact number of compromised accounts still remains undetermined.
Users have been frustrated when they tried to reach the brokerage since it lacks a customer service phone number. So, the company is thinking about whether to give its customers a reliable phone number for responding to various issues after claims of slow resolution of the fraud case.
Some angry users even blasted Robinhood, on Reddit and Twitter, for failing to stop the theft earlier enough. However, the users got a frustrating email that states as follows:
“We always respond to customers reporting fraudulent or suspicious activity and work as quickly as possible to complete investigations. The security of Robinhood customer accounts is a top priority and something we take very seriously.”
Popularity Dimmed by Fraudulent Cases
Robinhood’s popularity has been explosive in recent years, and the COVID-19 pandemic has made it to realize an even colossal uptick. In September, a funding round pushed the startup’s valuation to $12 billion. However, the recent fraud cases have been a pain on its neck.
Various U.S. lawmakers have constantly advised the app to put proper safeguards following suicide case student in June involving a 20-year-old who had seen a negative $730,000 balance on the account. The company also saw a rough time when customer tempers went over the roof after the app experienced outages during volatile trading days in the stock market.