Change in 2FA at Vanguard??

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SoDakJeff
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Joined: Mon Mar 13, 2017 11:48 am

Change in 2FA at Vanguard??

Post by SoDakJeff »

I've been using a Yubikey to log into the Vanguard site for over a year. It's always been pretty straightforward - enter username and password, touch the key and I'm there. For the past week or so, I can no longer login using only the key. Now when logging in, I enter username and password, touch the key and then I'm taken to a different login page where I have to accept and submit my username and password again which takes me to a security code page where I have to click on a link to have them send a code to my phone.

I spent almost 3 hours on the phone with VG yesterday while various people tried to find out why this was happening. Long story short - the last guy I spoke with said he found that when you sign in using a key, the default code setting is automatically set to "always send a code". So, in effect, I now use 3FA to access Vanguard. Neither the VG guy or I could find any way to get around this.

Granted, this isn't end-of-the-world stuff, but I'm finding the extra step pretty irritating. I can still access my account.

Have others been experiencing this? Any explanation as to why they would have made a change like this?

Thanks for your input.
cas
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Re: Change in 2FA at Vanguard??

Post by cas »

I have no idea, except that the title of a possibly relevent recent thread was still lingering in the back of my mind:

May 27, 2021: Yubikey only at Vanguard now possible.

No idea whether that thread is useful or not.
Topic Author
SoDakJeff
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Re: Change in 2FA at Vanguard??

Post by SoDakJeff »

Funny you should mention that. While I was on the phone to Vanguard yesterday, the first guy I spoke to suggested that I disable the code setting, too. However, when I did that I wasn't able to access Vanguard at all. I was effectively locked out.

I'd login to VG with username & password, touch my key and then I'd be directed back to the security code page again. But since I had disabled security codes, there was nothing for them to send me. Part of the reason for the long phone call with VG was getting someone to restore the code settings the way they were.
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quantAndHold
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Re: Change in 2FA at Vanguard??

Post by quantAndHold »

Sounds like your yubikey isn’t working anymore for some reason.
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celia
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Re: Change in 2FA at Vanguard??

Post by celia »

Have you tried rebooting your computer? Sometimes unexplained things get reset that way.
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kevinf
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Re: Change in 2FA at Vanguard??

Post by kevinf »

This has been happening to me as well, however the work around is simple. The first time you touch your key, you are AUTHed, but it drops you back to the login screen. Simply use a bookmark (like the link below) to jump straight to your homepage when you see the second login screen. No other tinkering needed. Hopefully they can fix the issue on their end soon, it's annoying.

https://personal.vanguard.com/us/myaccounts/balancesholdings
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txaggie
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Re: Change in 2FA at Vanguard??

Post by txaggie »

kevinf wrote: Wed Jun 09, 2021 2:09 pm This has been happening to me as well, however the work around is simple. The first time you touch your key, you are AUTHed, but it drops you back to the login screen. Simply use a bookmark (like the link below) to jump straight to your homepage when you see the second login screen. No other tinkering needed. Hopefully they can fix the issue on their end soon, it's annoying.

https://personal.vanguard.com/us/myaccounts/balancesholdings
Thanks for the work around! That worked great. I couldn't figure out how to get in with my Yubikey. Hope Vanguard fixes this soon.
jojo7
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Joined: Thu Jun 10, 2021 8:38 am

Re: Change in 2FA at Vanguard??

Post by jojo7 »

Called Vanguard - security tech said he hadn't heard about this issue before and to clear cache in chrome - that didn't work. Using the bookmark method for now.
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Eagle33
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Re: Change in 2FA at Vanguard??

Post by Eagle33 »

OP
Which Vanguard platform are your accounts - newer brokerage platform or legacy mutual fund platform?
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oldcomputerguy
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Re: Change in 2FA at Vanguard??

Post by oldcomputerguy »

For what it's worth, I also use a Yubikey for 2FA on my Vanguard account, and it worked normally for me when I tried it just now (10:00 pm).
There is only one success - to be able to spend your life in your own way. (Christopher Morley)
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kevinf
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Re: Change in 2FA at Vanguard??

Post by kevinf »

What platform and browser? It's still dropping me back to login... Win10 on Chrome. I also just tried an incognito window (no cookies/cache) and it still takes me back to a second login screen. Also tried both login screens, still same result.
cacophony
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Re: Change in 2FA at Vanguard??

Post by cacophony »

I've been seeing this too. It started happening less than a week ago.

Win 10 + Chrome + old mutual fund platform + Yubikey.

Happens 100% of the time. I hope Vanguard fixes this bug soon because it doesn't instill much confidence in their engineering team.

I was going to try removing the Yubikey and re-registering it, but when I go to the "Security Keys" page in the Security Center, the page is completely empty.
cacophony
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Re: Change in 2FA at Vanguard??

Post by cacophony »

Ah ha! I think I fixed it.

I disabled my ad blocker (uBlock Origin) on personal.vanguard.com and now I can log in without issue.
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kevinf
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Re: Change in 2FA at Vanguard??

Post by kevinf »

cacophony wrote: Mon Jun 14, 2021 11:41 pm Ah ha! I think I fixed it.

I disabled my ad blocker (uBlock Origin) on personal.vanguard.com and now I can log in without issue.
Confirmed, this worked for me. Anyone contacting Vanguard might want to update them so they can work around it. Ad-blockers aren't exactly unheard of.
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