Robinhood Account Hacking Spree

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Robinhood

In late 2020, over 2,000 accounts on the Robinhood trading platform were breached. Users reported difficulties in obtaining support at the time. While some users report that their funds were restored by the platform, it's unclear if all funds were restored.

This exchange or platform is based in United States, or the incident targeted people primarily in United States.

About Robinhood

"Investing for Everyone. Commission-free investing, plus the tools you need to put your money in motion. Sign up and get your first stock for free. Certain limitations and fees apply." "Tap into the cryptocurrency market to buy, HODL, and sell Bitcoin, Ethereum, Dogecoin, and more, 24/7 with Robinhood Crypto."

"We believe the financial system should be built to work for everyone. That’s why we create products that let you start investing at your own pace, on your own terms." "Other crypto exchanges charge up to 4% just to buy and sell crypto. We charge 0%." "Industry-leading security. Ownership over your coins. Cold storage for vast majority of our customers’ coins. Crime insurance against theft and cybersecurity breaches."

"The firm, which helped popularize free trading, went on a hiring binge for customer-service staff, more than tripling the size of that team in 2020. The brokerage opened offices in Arizona, Texas and Colorado as part of its expansion. It unveiled 24/7 phone support [in October 2021]." "The online brokerage has about 18.9 million retail clients."

"Almost 2,000 Robinhood Markets accounts were compromised in a recent hacking spree that siphoned off customer funds, a sign that the attacks were more widespread than was previously known." "Some complained there was no one available to call." "A person with knowledge of an internal review, who asked not to be identified because the findings aren’t public, provided the estimated figure."

"The attacks unleashed a torrent of complaints on social media, where investors recounted futile attempts to call the brokerage, which doesn’t have a customer service phone number. Robinhood, which has more than 13 million customer accounts, is now considering whether to add a phone number along with other tools, the person said."

"Several victims said they found no sign of criminals compromising their email accounts. And some said their brokerage accounts were accessed even though they had set up two-factor authentication." "[R]ecent findings show that almost 2000 customer accounts were compromised in a recent hacking spree that siphoned off customer funds. This implies the was not a singular, but rather a part of a widespread form of attack."

"Lena Williams, a human resources professional in the Chicago area, can’t figure out how hackers got into her account more than a month ago. She found no intrusion into her email and had set up two-factor authentication. But one day, she woke up to alerts that her investments were being sold, and she quickly discovered she was locked out of the account."

Early the next morning she received a barrage of alerts on her phone. “It said ‘This stock sold. This stock sold. This stock sold,’” recalled Laino, 29. “It’s like if you wake up at 4 a.m. and your house is on fire.”

"Unable to find a phone number, Laino said she emailed customer support but received no response. Then she checked her email’s trash bin and discovered someone had accessed it, setting it up to intercept messages from Robinhood. Laino said she got a call from customer support on Sept. 25. That’s when she learned someone had created fake identification and submitted it to Robinhood to reactivate trading. The forgery had her information, a photo of a different person and a font that doesn’t match Arizona’s official state IDs."

"On 9 October, Fintech startup Robinhood Markets Inc. stated that a few of their customer accounts may have been hacked." "When Bloomberg first reported on the hacking spree, the popular online brokerage disclosed few details. It said “a limited number” of customers had been struck by cyber-criminals who gained access by breaching personal email accounts outside of Robinhood, an assertion that some of the victims acknowledge and others reject."

“We always respond to customers reporting fraudulent or suspicious activity and work as quickly as possible to complete investigations,” the company said in an emailed statement. “The security of Robinhood customer accounts is a top priority and something we take very seriously.”

"This week, Robinhood sent push notifications to users suggesting they enable two-factor authentication on their accounts. It also plans to send customers more advice on security, according to the statement."

"Laino said Robinhood restored her account and stock holdings, but she still plans to eventually leave the firm."

“I don’t want to sell right now,” she said. “But I’m not going to put any more money into it. I don’t really trust them.”

This exchange or platform is based in United States, or the incident targeted people primarily in United States.

The background of the exchange platform, service, or individuals involved, as it would have been seen or understood at the time of the events.

Include:

• Known history of when and how the service was started.
• What problems does the company or service claim to solve?
• What marketing materials were used by the firm or business?
• Audits performed, and excerpts that may have been included.
• Business registration documents shown (fake or legitimate).
• How were people recruited to participate?
• Public warnings and announcements prior to the event.

Don't Include:

• Any wording which directly states or implies that the business is/was illegitimate, or that a vulnerability existed.
• Anything that wasn't reasonably knowable at the time of the event.

There could be more than one section here. If the same platform is involved with multiple incidents, then it can be linked to a main article page.

The Reality

This sections is included if a case involved deception or information that was unknown at the time. Examples include:

• When the service was actually started (if different than the "official story").
• Who actually ran a service and their own personal history.
• How the service was structured behind the scenes. (For example, there was no "trading bot".)
• Details of what audits reported and how vulnerabilities were missed during auditing.

What Happened

The specific events of the loss and how it came about. What actually happened to cause the loss and some of the events leading up to it.

Key Event Timeline - Robinhood Account Hacking Spree

Date	Event	Description
September 25th, 2020 12:00:00 AM	Main Event	Expand this into a brief description of what happened and the impact. If multiple lines are necessary, add them here.

Total Amount Lost

The total amount lost is unknown.

How much was lost and how was it calculated? If there are conflicting reports, which are accurate and where does the discrepancy lie?

Immediate Reactions

How did the various parties involved (firm, platform, management, and/or affected individual(s)) deal with the events? Were services shut down? Were announcements made? Were groups formed?

Ultimate Outcome

What was the end result? Was any investigation done? Were any individuals prosecuted? Was there a lawsuit? Was any tracing done?

Total Amount Recovered

There do not appear to have been any funds recovered in this case.

What funds were recovered? What funds were reimbursed for those affected users?

Ongoing Developments

What parts of this case are still remaining to be concluded?

Prevention Policies

Which policies could have prevented this event from happening?