We have recently lost $9,940 due to Internet Fraud. This happened while we were on an extended trip. We have been told that this money was probably sent to the Russian Mafia in Lithuania. We're an ordinary couple of limited means. If this can happen to us it can happen to anyone.
We left home on September 8. We returned home on October 5. We use a dial up Internet Service and our computer was not on while we were away.
We had an Ameritrade account for stock exchanges. September 15 while we were gone $9,940 was transferred fraudulently from our account. This was sent to a Laura Raider account at Union Federal Bank in Indianapolis. The next day this was sent to Lithuania. (The police have told us probably to the Russia Mafia).
We received no notification of this transfer from Ameritrade. We had never used the Internet to transfer money from this account. This fraudulent transfer was found when we called up our account summary on October 5 on arriving home.
We filed a police report on October 7 with the Amarillo Police Department. This report was used to arrest Laura Raider in Indianapolis. She was released after questioning and thought to be a vitim too.
Ameritrade told us our password and user number were used to verify the transfer. October 15 we sent a notarized Affidavit of Fraud to Ameritrade stating that we did not request or authorize this wire transfer.
November 14 Ameritrade sent us a letter stating their website was secure. They will not replace our stolen money. The bottom of their statement states that they are insured for 25 million dollars. We were told that does not protect us. It is only if they go bankrupt.
In an earlier phone conversation with Jared Hanson of Ameritrade he stated that their had been other "occurences" of this nature. They are changing the way they handle the passwords on their accounts. They are the only ones to have our user number and password, yet they won't accept responsibility.
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