Brokerage Account Hacks and Lootings Show Online Trading Risks (1)

It feels as easy as it does safe. With a few swipes of the thumb, investors anywhere can trade stocks straight from their mobile phones, identifying themselves with the unique biometric data stored in their fingerprints or faces.

But an expanding pool of consumer complaints suggests that online trading, which has soared in popularity during the Covid-19 pandemic, may be less secure than investors would hope. Bloomberg News reported last week on the experience of some users on Robinhood Markets Inc.’s brokerage app who say their money was stolen.

Robinhood says the issue didn’t stem from a breach of ...