Why not use an auto-invest service?

[rawraw]

I guess I shouldn't be surprised at the risk tolerance of folks who make unsecured loans to strangers over the internet. 

Usually I'm considered the risky outlier that everyone thinks is nuts for doing this.  All this dialog is really cheering me up and making me feel like playing in traffic. 

Ha ha, I'm all about calculated risks

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

[New Jersey Guy]

Thanks everyone for your input.

For those who are concerned about security, what's really the worst thing that could happen?

Someone schedules an ACH withdrawal out of your account? LC automatically sends an e-mail when a withdrawal request is received, and they can usually cancel these requests for about 1 day.

Someone tries to sell all of your notes on Folio? That may be more tricky to deal with (in terms of getting LC to cancel the sale), but lets be real here...your login credentials could be compromised at any time

Zach....Good Points.
I mean, you just need to learn to trust the system.  I've been disclosing personal info online since 1996 when I first signed up with Ebay and Paypal and never had a problem.  You're only other alternative for full security is to stuff your cash in the mattress.
However, that could pose problems, too.
Nothing is totally fool-proof.

[Zach]

Thanks everyone for your input.

For those who are concerned about security, what's really the worst thing that could happen?

Someone schedules an ACH withdrawal out of your account? LC automatically sends an e-mail when a withdrawal request is received, and they can usually cancel these requests for about 1 day.

Someone tries to sell all of your notes on Folio? That may be more tricky to deal with (in terms of getting LC to cancel the sale), but lets be real here...your login credentials could be compromised at any time

Zach....Good Points.
I mean, you just need to learn to trust the system.  I've been disclosing personal info online since 1996 when I first signed up with Ebay and Paypal and never had a problem.  You're only other alternative for full security is to stuff your cash in the mattress.
However, that could pose problems, too.
Nothing is totally fool-proof.

Thanks NJ Guy. I'm glad someone sees it the way I do. I basically have the exact same thought process on it. My thinking is that if you don't take those calculated risks to use online services for example, you'll never really be doing yourself any justice. Fraud usually screams to me pretty easily, and I've therefore never had any issues with it.

[cfb]

I've been disclosing personal info online since 1996 when I first signed up with Ebay and Paypal and never had a problem.  You're only other alternative for full security is to stuff your cash in the mattress.

Discomforting for the guy who had paypal lose some of his credit card #'s and bank account information to hackers, then refuse to remove the remaining info, even when I told them I'd just change it, which would be a PITA for me and would render the information they refused to delete useless.  They told me I had to change it all, because the TOS said they didn't have to delete it and they therefore would not.  Haven't used it since.

And my ebay account was hacked, by someone who bought lots and lots of tickets to sporting events, then tried to sign up for MyUPS at my address to change the delivery address of the shipments, but I'm one of the rare people who already had an account established.  I still use those tix for bookmarks, since they were declared stolen and replaced to the original sellers.  Got the Dolphins vs Patriots from a few seasons ago in my current book.

At least I was protected against loss, but that was quite a bit of work.  Had my CC's routinely stolen the last few years until I finally quit using the CC #'s to buy stuff online and only use the 'shopsafe' unique one time numbers from my bank.  Would LC or the independent auto invest service step up and fix anything that went wrong?

[New Jersey Guy]

CFB.....I've found that most of the time somebody had their online account compromised is because of something else they did.  Someplace down the line, they did something they shouldn't have, and didn't realize it.  Most of it is because of phishing scams.

I had my Discover Card compromised a couple of years ago.  Somebody in Philly was having a hey-day ordering online.  Discover took care of it for me.  I have no idea what I did, but I'm sure I had to have screwed up someplace.  However, I didn't cancel my Discover Card because of it.

[Zach]

CFB.....I've found that most of the time somebody had their online account compromised is because of something else they did.  Someplace down the line, they did something they shouldn't have, and didn't realize it.  Most of it is because of phishing scams.

That is very true.

[cfb]

CFB.....I've found that most of the time somebody had their online account compromised is because of something else they did.  Someplace down the line, they did something they shouldn't have, and didn't realize it.  Most of it is because of phishing scams.

I had my Discover Card compromised a couple of years ago.  Somebody in Philly was having a hey-day ordering online.  Discover took care of it for me.  I have no idea what I did, but I'm sure I had to have screwed up someplace.  However, I didn't cancel my Discover Card because of it.

My paypal and ebay leaks were because someone hacked into their data and it wasn't encrypted.  I see stories about similar leaks pretty regularly.

My credit card leaks were tracked back to two online sellers who exposed credit card info through an exploit.  Believe it or not, Walmart and Rakuten (Buy.com).  I've had no problems since I started using one-time CC numbers.

One of my former employers (originally Digital Equipment Corp, bought by Compaq, bought by HP) also exposed all of their employees pension/retirement account information and they're still paying for free credit monitoring, which so far has never worked.  You'd think that a premier technology company would do better than that.  But that turned out to be a bit of a good thing.  I had no idea that I'd worked long enough back in the 70's and 80's to qualify for a pension, until they sent me a letter saying my pension data had been exposed, and I got to ask the question "What pension?".  Turns out I'll get ~$40 a month starting in a few years.  Thanks hackers and incompetent IT people!!!

A major problem for many people is they use the same passwords for a lot of sites, and all you need is for one of them to not encrypt the data and expose it.  If someone gets it, they can try the usual sites for the same email/username and password combo.  The big kill is getting into your email and finding messages from all the sites you use.  I use different ones for everything and change them every six months or so.

The only reason why I stopped using paypal is because they refused to delete bank and credit information I didn't want them to have, and didn't intend to use again with them, and they refused, even though I told them I'd change it at great effort, rending it worthless to them.  A poor policy decision IMO.  Once they get a bank account # and cc#, they really don't want to let it go.

[core]

A major problem for many people is they use the same passwords for a lot of sites, and all you need is for one of them to not encrypt the data and expose it.  If someone gets it, they can try the usual sites for the same email/username and password combo.

Precisely.  You buy something from Big Bob's Bargains, some Russian hacker with time on his hands uses SQL injection to get into the database.  The Ruskie then sells the database contents for a surprisingly small amount of cash.  They've got your email, password (for that site), credit card number, and they go to town.

The only reason why I stopped using paypal is because they refused to delete bank and credit information I didn't want them to have, and didn't intend to use again with them, and they refused, even though I told them I'd change it at great effort, rending it worthless to them.  A poor policy decision IMO.  Once they get a bank account # and cc#, they really don't want to let it go.

I'm sure one reason for this is so they can prevent you from opening another account with that information, or at least log it if you try.  They had a real problem with delinquent ebay fees and PP chargebacks leaving accounts negative and people would just walk away from it and start a second account.  They really cracked down on things to the point where roommates would get tagged for another's misdeeds.  It's not hard to get another CC# but I guess every bit of information helps them.

You're lucky you never had your PP account locked.  A couple of my accounts were locked for almost 2 years with $30k tied up between the two.  They would do this to people at random, ask for all sorts of identity verification documents, and still not release the account.  Didn't they get sued for that?  Anyway I'm an active paypal user once again but I sure as hell wouldn't keep large amounts of money in there.  Back then they had a money market that was paying a darn good rate.... that's the only reason I left the cash there.

[Zach]

Kind of ironic that as we're talking about security/passwords, Aaron Vermut, the President of Prosper had his Twitter account hacked today.

[cfb]

Precisely.  You buy something from Big Bob's Bargains, some Russian hacker with time on his hands uses SQL injection to get into the database.  The Ruskie then sells the database contents for a surprisingly small amount of cash.  They've got your email, password (for that site), credit card number, and they go to town.

Lots of smart people with lots of ways to subvert a system.  If I remember right (not a sure thing!) the walmart one allowed you to access someones CC data just by fiddling with the URL.  It'd pop you into a random recent order and let you access the account info associated with that order.  The Rakuten/Buy.com thing was rumored to be an employee with access to the database selling copies of the data out the door.  If someone wants money and has a brain or physical access, there will always be the temptation.  Hope the autoinvest guys are financially smart and have a strong security background or a partner who does.

You're lucky you never had your PP account locked.  A couple of my accounts were locked for almost 2 years with $30k tied up between the two.  They would do this to people at random, ask for all sorts of identity verification documents, and still not release the account.  Didn't they get sued for that?  Anyway I'm an active paypal user once again but I sure as hell wouldn't keep large amounts of money in there.  Back then they had a money market that was paying a darn good rate.... that's the only reason I left the cash there.

I missed all the fun!  I think it was 11 or 12 years ago that I pulled the plug.  It was really only good for ebay back in the day, and ebay went to hell in a handbasket with fraud and scammers not long thereafter.  I actually did create a new paypal account a few months back, but I gave them a one time use card # good for $10 and 12 months.  A site I used to contribute to a long time ago got bought by them through a serial acquisition and apparently part of the deal was considering contributors stakeholders of some sort, as they offered to pay me $6 a month as a royalty, but only through paypal.  Since I like free money and I have very little at risk, I figured why not.  Almost covers my netflix bill.  I'll just have them send me a check when the amount gets high enough.

[dontvote]

Kind of ironic that as we're talking about security/passwords, Aaron Vermut, the President of Prosper had his Twitter account hacked today.

Why would anyone bother?

[cfb]

Why would anyone bother?

"I did NOT have 12 beers and say that on twitter......someone hacked my account!"

[Zach]

Why would anyone bother?

"I did NOT have 12 beers and say that on twitter......someone hacked my account!"

No, all of his followers were sent links to some malware/virus. I highly doubt that was a result of being drunk.

[rawraw]

Thanks everyone for your input.

For those who are concerned about security, what's really the worst thing that could happen?

Someone schedules an ACH withdrawal out of your account? LC automatically sends an e-mail when a withdrawal request is received, and they can usually cancel these requests for about 1 day.

Someone tries to sell all of your notes on Folio? That may be more tricky to deal with (in terms of getting LC to cancel the sale), but lets be real here...your login credentials could be compromised at any time

Zach....Good Points.
I mean, you just need to learn to trust the system.  I've been disclosing personal info online since 1996 when I first signed up with Ebay and Paypal and never had a problem.  You're only other alternative for full security is to stuff your cash in the mattress.
However, that could pose problems, too.
Nothing is totally fool-proof.

Thanks NJ Guy. I'm glad someone sees it the way I do. I basically have the exact same thought process on it. My thinking is that if you don't take those calculated risks to use online services for example, you'll never really be doing yourself any justice. Fraud usually screams to me pretty easily, and I've therefore never had any issues with it.

All websites aren't created equal.  That logic is predicated on that all websites have the same inherent risk -- and I'm sure we'd all agree that is simply not true.  Some websites can be made specifically to steal your information.

[New Jersey Guy]

"Some websites can be made specifically to steal your information."

Rawraw....that's absolutely true!  Which, brings me back to my post from the 23rd.

CFB.....I've found that most of the time somebody had their online account compromised is because of something else they did.  Someplace down the line, they did something they shouldn't have, and didn't realize it.  Most of it is because of phishing scams.

I had my Discover Card compromised a couple of years ago.  Somebody in Philly was having a hey-day ordering online.  Discover took care of it for me.  I have no idea what I did, but I'm sure I had to have screwed up someplace.  However, I didn't cancel my Discover Card because of it.