Fri 27 Oct 2006
Yahoo has a short fluff piece about the latest problem with spyware and malware… once a system is compromised, the bad guys are sniffing for login credentials at discount/online brokers. Not so they can withdraw your money, but rather so they can use your account to manipulate trading in illiquid stocks…
Remember the Internet chat-room hypester? The one who would tout some obscure penny stock that he had recently purchased in the hopes of creating a buying frenzy that he could sell into? That kind of “pump and dump” chicanery eventually evolved into email and online message-board hype. […]
Today’s cybercrooks are simply cutting out the middleman. They use your account to fire up the “pump,” in order to “dump” from their own account shortly thereafter.
The Hacker Made Me Do It (Yahoo Finance)