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Fido Double Secret Probation

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Comments

  • Edmond said:

    OP, if you really don't know why your account is frozen, and they refuse to tell you, maybe try the following:

    a. Attempt to "open or withdraw" a position.
    b. When Fido blocks your attempt, go to www.consumerfinance.gov and open a complaint on them. -- Sick the Feds on them.

    Not a bad idea.
  • Considering that OP has been informed that the a/c is temporarily frozen, and he may guess the reason (and it is not a trade violation) even though Fido hasn't told him, any further attempts to play with the a/c will only add to problems.
  • Just a FYI - I use Schwab Robo chat only as an enhancement to their search functionality. At the end of the Robo Chat greeting / replies, there is an option to reach a human chat and one can bypass the Robo Chat easily. Some organizations make it difficult to bypass Robo chat / telephone answering Robo, but Schwab does not seem to do that.
  • @msf

    You have far more patience than I do. I never answer calls that are not already in my contact list, so all these Fido calls went to VM. I never responded.

    As another comment in the "Schwab vs Fidelity" I agree that Schwab chat works very well and is my preferred method of contacting them , even though I have an "advisor" ( who I don't really use for advice) who will respond in 24 hours.

    I just used the Chat on Fidelity, which I think is a new feature. Rep was ok, took forever to figure out why there was a fee for selling a fund that they didn't list on their info page. Agreed it should have been listed but refused to waive it

    No way I could see to print a transcript. He suggested a screen shot
  • Edmond said:

    OP, if you really don't know why your account is frozen, and they refuse to tell you, maybe try the following:

    a. Attempt to "open or withdraw" a position.
    b. When Fido blocks your attempt, go to www.consumerfinance.gov and open a complaint on them. -- Sick the Feds on them.

    FYI, tried a. and got a pop-up that account is restricted.

    If I file a CFPB complaint, Fido is just going to respond that they’re following federal law regarding “suspicious “ activity. It won’t accomplish anything.
  • My too big to fail, money center bank did not allow me to login to my account when I used McAfee VPN. They claim if they can not see my IP address, they will not allow access to my account and that VPN usage blocks the IP address. When I was working, I routinely used my work VPN but that did not create any problem for my bank. Does anyone have a problem accessing financial institutions while using VPN?
  • edited March 18
    Can you select VPN servers in different locations when using McAfee VPN?
    If so, you may want to try this.
  • When I try to sign a into my Citizens Bank account using Brave Browser, it does not recognize me. They text me a six digit code.
  • Many discussion board logins stop working when VPNs are used. So, I am not surprised that they cause problems with financial institution login where KYC is the law. I once tried a VPN that routed me via Peru that caused a allow connection, & I was concerned about additional country risks. So, I stopped using it.

    Major browsers Chrome, Edge, Firefox do lot of tracking via cookies (soon to go away) or other means. But small browsers like GoDuckGo don't do any tracking; so, every time one tries to login to a financial site, 2FA is required because the browser doesn't remember anything. Don't know about Brave, but it could be similar.

  • Fido is dropping like a stone today. I am 20 minutes into phone call trying to simply change my password. On third rep and third "Authorization"
  • into my 45th minute and fourth rep!!!
  • Wow An hour and five reps later, they can't figure it out so tell my to click "forgot name and password" and then with only my name DOB and last four of SS I can change PW. 2FA required but with all the Sim card issues this does not inspire confidence!
  • Can you select VPN servers in different locations when using McAfee VPN?
    If so, you may want to try this.

    Probably can but I always use the default US where I am.

  • @sma3
    Phone or computer you're using?
    Was this a request from Fido or you wanted to change password?
    Thank you.
  • Computer

    I try to change my passwords regularly. The first changed pw had a "dont use" character i it ( #) but even eliminating that, deleting the cache etc and restarting nothing worked

    And to add to the confusion, the Schwab web page summary ( when I was changing passwords there) showed I had $ 1,000,000 more money than I did on Friday! The Schwab chat person had no idea why, even though I offered to split it with her.
  • Fidelity has account lock features which prevents transfers out without two factor authentication. Not sure if the account sign in also has TFA. I am assuming with TFA, companies are not requiring / asking frequent PW changes.

    Both Schwab and TD account balances have been off during non-trading hours, especially over the weekends.
  • edited March 18
    @sma3 You first mentioned Fido and then Schwab. Are you attempting to update passwords at both companies?
    Have there been any changes to computer software: i.e., anti-virus or VPN programs?
    I have to close a VPN program for access to various sites.
  • Both have TFA and a notification through their iphone app where you click "yes it is me" after signing in with FaceID

    TFA are probably safe, but can be hacked with a Sim card fraud. I think face ID since it is located on the physical phone is probably safer.

    yes I have accounts at both. Schwab is ahad in ease of use and response I think
  • edited March 18
    "Both Schwab and TD account balances have been off during non-trading hours, especially over the weekends."

    @BaluBalu- by "off" did you mean "inaccurate" or not available?

    Tnx / OJ
  • Inaccurate. Also, if you place trades during off hours, I would check order status before signing off from the account. If the order is not in the order status, I would not assume it did not get placed, I would call / chat the rep to make sure what you see is what they see - I assume what they see is more accurate.

    We do not get much commentary in this forum about IBKR. I hope posters with account there post, as I hear off line good things about IBKR for stocks and ETFs.
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