Poker Pros Fall Victim to Phone Hackers

A number of poker pros fell prey to a hacking scam on Tuesday, which caused them to lose control over their phone and social media accounts, including Facebook and Twitter. The long list of high-stakes players affected by the incident included Cate Hall, Dan Smith, Vanessa Selbst, and Vanessa Rousso, with the hackers possibly targeting any store of cryptocurrency they may hold, which has become an increasingly common target for hackers.
Fortunately, any Bitcoin or other digital currency they may have held appears to have been safe for now because of the two-factor authentication (2FA) system that is used to provide an extra layer of security before a customer is able to access their account. Nevertheless, other areas of their finances were also likely the intended target of the hacking, with the criminals gaining control of those phones which may have been used to confirm security details for accessing certain common services they may use, such as Google, iCloud, banks, PayPal, social media, to name but a few.
Doug Polk provided good coverage of the breaking story as it developed, and in his YouTube video stated that he knew of several other people who have experienced the same criminal activity, but chose not to make their incidences public. As Polk then explained:
“The hackers have infiltrated bank accounts and tried to initiate wire transfers; used credit cards to rack up charges; gotten into Dropbox accounts containing copies of passports, credit cards and tax returns; and extorted victims using incriminating information found in their email accounts.”
In the meantime, the hacking caused great consternation amongst those poker pros affected, with Vanessa Rousso tweeting for “help”, and stating that her “family is being held hostage.” Vanessa Selbst also had her Gmail, Dropbox and Verizon accounts hacked, and later berated the mobile carrier for telling her that her phone PIN was safe:
“Your customer service is a joke. Your reps don’t know how to protect account security. I have had a hacker repeatedly pretending to be me,” wrote Selbst.