Unauthorized trading fidelity

[Alex39]

Hi

Today 4/4, I noticed a margin debt of $~350k on my individual Fidelity account.
Turns out there has been a margin purchase of 1000 shares on 3/29 that resulted in this debt. I never placed this order and no one has access to my profile.
I am sure I did not see this activity on 3/30 when I did a small cash purchase on the account.
Interestingly, I never got a message in the app inbox or an email about the margin debt (I always get such messages about the margin debts, most recently three days before that).

I contacted fidelity and they said they don't see suspicious activity on my account, and the fact that I didn't get a message is an "electronic glitch". They said I should file a police report if I think my phone has been hacked.

I am absolutely sure this was an unauthorized purchase since (1) the number of shares is 1000 (not a random number) (2) I didn't get any notifications.

Any suggestions? Any similar experiences?
Thanks for the input

[yobery]

Change your password. Turn on 2 factor authentication. Escalate your issue up the chain, look through your account history to see if there is any additional info

[Nate79]

Hi

Today 4/4, I noticed a margin debt of $~350k on my individual Fidelity account.
Turns out there has been a margin purchase of 1000 shares on 3/29 that resulted in this debt. I never placed this order and no one has access to my profile.
I am sure I did not see this activity on 3/30 when I did a small cash purchase on the account.
Interestingly, I never got a message in the app inbox or an email about the margin debt (I always get such messages about the margin debts, most recently three days before that).

I contacted fidelity and they said they don't see suspicious activity on my account, and the fact that I didn't get a message is an "electronic glitch". They said I should file a police report if I think my phone has been hacked.

I am absolutely sure this was an unauthorized purchase since (1) the number of shares is 1000 (not a random number) (2) I didn't get any notifications.

Any suggestions? Any similar experiences?
Thanks for the input

What did the police do when you filed the police report as Fidelity suggested?

[Alex39]

I haven't filed a police report. Don't think it's my compromised password. It is fidelity itself

[investorpeter]

You have to look at it from Fidelity's point of view. They might think this was a legitimate trade made by you, which you now regret, so you are alleging it was unauthorized to have it reversed. I'm not at all saying that's what happened, but it may be what they are thinking, and that is why they are suggesting you file a police report, as a sign of your sincerity.

It could also be a completely random glitch. Maybe a trade for another account somehow got mixed up with yours - someone with a similar name or SS#. That type of mistake is more of the kind of thing I would have expected from Vanguard than Fidelity, but it could happen. I remember when one of my retirement accounts was transferred to Fidelity, there was a glitch on the first day where I could log-in and see a random person's account with a completely different name. I didn't try to make any trades, but who knows what would have happened if I did.

If this isn't a random software glitch, there almost certainly has to be more to the story. A scam or theft attempt seems unlikely to me. If someone did access your account somehow, I don't see what would be gained by purchasing 1000 shares of a random company. The usual M.O. would be to try to transfer cash to an external account - at most there would be an order to SELL stocks to generate cash, and then an attempt to transfer the cash elsewhere. But to BUY shares just seems odd. Was it a penny stock? Was it a stock you had previously purchased or was on your watchlist? Could a child or someone else had access to the computer while you were still logged in? Do you have a loss on the 1000 shares held?

[123]

...Today 4/4, I noticed a margin debt of $~350k on my individual Fidelity account.
Turns out there has been a margin purchase of 1000 shares on 3/29 that resulted in this debt. I never placed this order and no one has access to my profile...

You should ask Fidelity to reverse/cancel the trade as unauthorized if they have not done so already.

[investorpeter]

I haven't filed a police report. Don't think it's my compromised password. It is fidelity itself

Even so, you should change your password. And check that the email associated with your Fidelity account has not been changed. That may be why you never received a notification.

If you push, Fidelity may have records of the IP address from which the recent trades were made.

[Alex39]

You have to look at it from Fidelity's point of view. They might think this was a legitimate trade made by you, which you now regret, so you are alleging it was unauthorized to have it reversed. I'm not at all saying that's what happened, but it may be what they are thinking, and that is why they are suggesting you file a police report, as a sign of your sincerity.

It could also be a completely random glitch. Maybe a trade for another account somehow got mixed up with yours - someone with a similar name or SS#. That type of mistake is more of the kind of thing I would have expected from Vanguard than Fidelity, but it could happen. I remember when one of my retirement accounts was transferred to Fidelity, there was a glitch on the first day where I could log-in and see a random person's account with a completely different name. I didn't try to make any trades, but who knows what would have happened if I did.

If this isn't a random software glitch, there almost certainly has to be more to the story. A scam or theft attempt seems unlikely to me. If someone did access your account somehow, I don't see what would be gained by purchasing 1000 shares of a random company. The usual M.O. would be to try to transfer cash to an external account - at most there would be an order to SELL stocks to generate cash, and then an attempt to transfer the cash elsewhere. But to BUY shares just seems odd. Was it a penny stock? Was it a stock you had previously purchased or was on your watchlist? Could a child or someone else had access to the computer while you were still logged in? Do you have a loss on the 1000 shares held?

Exactly, that's why I think this is a glitch/operator error and not a fraud. I had a few shares of the same stock and it was on my watch list, but I had no plan to buy more. No one else besides me lives in the household, and at the time of trade, I was home alone. I have checked the login/email/phone on the account, they are correct. Since the transaction, the stock has been down 8%, but I gotta sell it soon cause I cannot afford the debt.
I have no problem filing a police report (and probably will do) but not sure what they will end up doing given that my phone is fine.

[Alex39]

I haven't filed a police report. Don't think it's my compromised password. It is fidelity itself

Even so, you should change your password. And check that the email associated with your Fidelity account has not been changed. That may be why you never received a notification.

If you push, Fidelity may have records of the IP address from which the recent trades were made.

Already changed the password. The email is the same, I got emails for other stuff from fidelity. Surprisingly, after hours of talking with them, they didn't give me much detail on the transaction (e.g. IP address). You'd assume they have all that. Will push again tomorrow

[gtrplayer]

I haven't filed a police report. Don't think it's my compromised password. It is fidelity itself

Even so, you should change your password. And check that the email associated with your Fidelity account has not been changed. That may be why you never received a notification.

If you push, Fidelity may have records of the IP address from which the recent trades were made.

Already changed the password. The email is the same, I got emails for other stuff from fidelity. Surprisingly, after hours of talking with them, they didn't give me much detail on the transaction (e.g. IP address). You'd assume they have all that. Will push again tomorrow

Fidelity should definitely be able to see if someone signed into the app from a device you don’t normally use. If a customer service rep just dismissed it out of hand, escalate more until it gets with the fraud department.

[exodusNH]

You have to look at it from Fidelity's point of view. They might think this was a legitimate trade made by you, which you now regret, so you are alleging it was unauthorized to have it reversed. I'm not at all saying that's what happened, but it may be what they are thinking, and that is why they are suggesting you file a police report, as a sign of your sincerity.

It could also be a completely random glitch. Maybe a trade for another account somehow got mixed up with yours - someone with a similar name or SS#. That type of mistake is more of the kind of thing I would have expected from Vanguard than Fidelity, but it could happen. I remember when one of my retirement accounts was transferred to Fidelity, there was a glitch on the first day where I could log-in and see a random person's account with a completely different name. I didn't try to make any trades, but who knows what would have happened if I did.

If this isn't a random software glitch, there almost certainly has to be more to the story. A scam or theft attempt seems unlikely to me. If someone did access your account somehow, I don't see what would be gained by purchasing 1000 shares of a random company. The usual M.O. would be to try to transfer cash to an external account - at most there would be an order to SELL stocks to generate cash, and then an attempt to transfer the cash elsewhere. But to BUY shares just seems odd. Was it a penny stock? Was it a stock you had previously purchased or was on your watchlist? Could a child or someone else had access to the computer while you were still logged in? Do you have a loss on the 1000 shares held?

Exactly, that's why I think this is a glitch/operator error and not a fraud. I had a few shares of the same stock and it was on my watch list, but I had no plan to buy more. No one else besides me lives in the household, and at the time of trade, I was home alone. I have checked the login/email/phone on the account, they are correct. Since the transaction, the stock has been down 8%, but I gotta sell it soon cause I cannot afford the debt.
I have no problem filing a police report (and probably will do) but not sure what they will end up doing given that my phone is fine.

Filing a false police report is a crime. By having you filing a report, you're demonstrating that you believe this is fraudulent and not simply buyer's remorse.

I would ask them to provide you your login history of this isn't something you're able to see yourself.

Do you use any aggregation services like Mint to track your various accounts?

It does seem like an unusual situation for fraud since no one was able to get any money out of your account. These were $350 a share stocks, not some penny stock someone was trying to pump. If someone had sold a box spread and pulled the funds into a bank account, that would make more sense.

Also, usually fraud would be for a smaller amount to reduce the risk of being found out.

Does your account have a history of large margin purchases?

[galawdawg]

Today 4/4, I noticed a margin debt of $~350k on my individual Fidelity account.
Turns out there has been a margin purchase of 1000 shares on 3/29 that resulted in this debt.

I am sure I did not see this activity on 3/30 when I did a small cash purchase on the account.

Interestingly, I never got a message in the app inbox or an email about the margin debt (I always get such messages about the margin debts, most recently three days before that).

I had a few shares of the same stock and it was on my watch list, but I had no plan to buy more.

Very odd circumstances indeed. You create an account to post this thread explaining that while you actually have a margin account, you actually own shares of the stock purchased using margin and that you were on the Fidelity website on March 30, the day after the 1000 share margin purchase, and failed to notice or report any discrepancies, nonetheless there was unauthorized trading on your account on March 29. No funds were removed from your account, no unauthorized or suspicious transfers....just a purchase of a stock you have purchased before using a margin account that you have established.

You contact Fidelity, they tell you they see no suspicious activity on your account (which would presumably mean that they do not see a logon from an unfamiliar IP address) and they tell you to file a police report if you believe your device has been compromised. However, you don't contact police as you believe your phone has not been compromised and that nobody but Fidelity could have done this.

Do you use one or more account aggregator services? What is the ticker of the stock involved? Have you strictly complied with the unauthorized activity process outlined in the Fidelity Customer Protection Guarantee?

[rkhusky]

I contacted fidelity and they said they don't see suspicious activity on my account, and the fact that I didn't get a message is an "electronic glitch".

Wonder what kind of glitch would cause Fidelity to not send a particular email, when emails for the same thing had been sent a few days prior?

[exodusNH]

I contacted fidelity and they said they don't see suspicious activity on my account, and the fact that I didn't get a message is an "electronic glitch".

Wonder what kind of glitch would cause Fidelity to not send a particular email, when emails for the same thing had been sent a few days prior?

Having been involved in email deliverability, it could have been as simple as a glitch at his provider that returned a permanent error that stopped Fidelity from retrying.

1000 shares are 10 options contracts. I know little about options, but I wonder if a long-forgotten option exercised. Or a lingering GTC order completed.

"Buy 1000 shares of a $350 stock" is very bizarre fraudulent behavior. Had it been 1,000,000 shares of a $0.35 stock, it would make more sense.

[rkhusky]

Having been involved in email deliverability, it could have been as simple as a glitch at his provider that returned a permanent error that stopped Fidelity from retrying.

But the fact that it occurred only for this particular transaction is suspicious. Could just be coincidental. Hope the OP tracks it down.

[JoMoney]

If there was unauthroized activity in your account, notify Fidelity immediately, get your account secured, and If they tell you to file a police report, file a police report immediately. This is not something to waste time arguing about what you "think" happened or is happening.

https://www.fidelity.com/security/report-an-issue

https://www.fidelity.com/security/custo ... -guarantee
...
What if I have a claim?
We will ask for your cooperation with our investigation and may require you to take follow up actions. For example, we may ask you to have a professional computer security company clean your computer hard-drive or may ask you to file a police report, provide an affidavit, take steps to recover the funds from a wrongdoer known to you or sign a release. Fidelity will determine the applicability of the Customer Protection Guarantee and any reimbursement amounts based on the facts of your situation. We do not cover taxes, legal fees, lost opportunity costs, consequential/non-monetary damages or amounts that have been or are eligible to be reimbursed, for example, by a depository bank or through insurance.

Be glad you're at Fidelity, which is one of the few brokerages that actually have a stated "Customer Protection Guarantee" with regard to this type of potential fraud.
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=355944

[JazzTime]

I hope the OP will keep us informed of the final resolution of this mystery.

There are two issues: The lack of email notification and the trade.

Email: For any trade, Fidelity sends me two notifications. The first is when the trade executes - immediately upon execution. The second is the trade confirmation, which arrives late night or early morning. It would be very odd if somehow Fidelity failed to notify you this ONE time.

Trade: Do you trade options? For example, have you sold puts for this security? It is possible that options can be exercised early, well before expiration. That happened to me many years ago. I checked my email one morning and found I was the proud new owner of XXXX shares, many more shares than I would have ever purchased. While unexpected, I did at least get an email confirmation of the trade.

As others have pointed out, it would be highly unusual for a fraudster to simply buy shares in your account. There would be nothing to gain. On the other hand, it would be terrifying to open my account one day and see trading activity that was not done by me.

I have my accounts in lockdown mode so no one could actually transfer funds out of the account. Then again, if someone could get into my account, presumably they might be clever enough to circumvent the lockdown by spoofing my phone number.

So OP, please kindly keep us updated.

[JoeRetire]

Already changed the password. The email is the same, I got emails for other stuff from fidelity. Surprisingly, after hours of talking with them, they didn't give me much detail on the transaction (e.g. IP address). You'd assume they have all that. Will push again tomorrow

They have all that.
That doesn't mean they would give it to you.

[rkhusky]

As others have pointed out, it would be highly unusual for a fraudster to simply buy shares in your account. There would be nothing to gain.

Some hackers just like to prank. Could be a disgruntled employee, but presumably Fidelity has a record of everyone that touches a customer account. Could just be an employee mistake.

[HueyLD]

It may also be a good idea to remove the margin feature from your Fido account.

[mrmass]

I wonder if the OP is using 2FA with the Auth App from Symantec, or the text to a phone number?

[Suntan1]

Hi

Today 4/4, I noticed a margin debt of $~350k on my individual Fidelity account.
Turns out there has been a margin purchase of 1000 shares on 3/29 that resulted in this debt. I never placed this order and no one has access to my profile.
I am sure I did not see this activity on 3/30 when I did a small cash purchase on the account.
Interestingly, I never got a message in the app inbox or an email about the margin debt (I always get such messages about the margin debts, most recently three days before that).

I contacted fidelity and they said they don't see suspicious activity on my account, and the fact that I didn't get a message is an "electronic glitch". They said I should file a police report if I think my phone has been hacked.

I am absolutely sure this was an unauthorized purchase since (1) the number of shares is 1000 (not a random number) (2) I didn't get any notifications.

Any suggestions? Any similar experiences?
Thanks for the input

Happened to me with my Vanguard account. Had a 3 million margin call! Called customer service and margin call was reversed. It took 10 business days to fix after initial call. Vanguard never explained or admitted anything.

Call Fidelity so they can fix their mistake.

[lstone19]

Two points:

Everyone is assuming this trade was placed online. Perhaps it was placed by phone with a representative. Plus I can't see what a hacker gets by placing a buy in the OP's account other than to cause him grief but no guaranteed loss.

Second, regarding email, I've noticed in the past that Fidelity (and Schwab) treat temporary email errors as permanent. Temporary errors are things like the mail server doesn't respond (could be down - either planned or unplanned) and the correct action is to try again later (depending on how a mail server, could be a few minutes to a few hours later). While the mega mail providers have a lot of redundancy, a lot of smaller mail servers have no redundancy so temporary errors are relatively common (I used to run my own mail server at home - if I was upgrading the operating system or mail software, I'd be down for a few minutes. If my Internet link went down, I could be down a few hours). It violated Internet mail protocols to treat temporary errors as permanent but some companies take the view that if it can't be delivered immediately, it must not longer be valid (kind of like making a voice call to someone and if they don't answer, conclude they moved or worse).

[Watty]

I have never had to deal with something like this but in unrelated things I have had to deal with one thing I learned is that it is important for you to follow their set procedures exactly.

Be sure to dig through their web site and find out what there procedures are and follow them closely.

They have told you to file a police report so if you do not do that then not doing what they said that could hurt your chances of getting restitution even if you were hacked. You may want to file the police report and then call them back and say "what now". They may then escalate it.

I would also send them written letters by certified mail to document what you have told them.

[enuff]

Might want to rethink having margin enabled. For the same reason I don’t mess with Options and all of that, I don’t think much good comes from anything other than straight forward buying and selling. Keep it simple, pay cash for trades, and eliminate unnecessary hassle and risk for your life. I’m sure Bogle would approve.

[greg24]

If you had a large fraudulent purchase happen on your Fidelity account, don't let the answer from one phone operator be the end of your Fidelity communication.

You need to demand to go up the chain. One simple "no" from first tier support is not enough. Demand a manager, call the CEO, post on twitter, etc.

[drk]

1000 shares are 10 options contracts. I know little about options, but I wonder if a long-forgotten option exercised. Or a lingering GTC order completed.

FIdelity auto-exercises ITM options at expiration, so the former is possible, but the date makes me think the latter is more likely.

[bberris]

...
Everyone is assuming this trade was placed online. Perhaps it was placed by phone with a representative. Plus I can't see what a hacker gets by placing a buy in the OP's account other than to cause him grief but no guaranteed loss.

...

Depends on the stock. If this was a thinly traded penny, fraudulent trades can be used to boost the stock. But usually this fraud is carried out through wash trades between colluding accounts.

[richard.h.gao]

They said I should file a police report if I think my phone has been hacked.

Wow not very helpful are they.

[Marseille07]

1000 shares are 10 options contracts. I know little about options, but I wonder if a long-forgotten option exercised. Or a lingering GTC order completed.

FIdelity auto-exercises ITM options at expiration, so the former is possible, but the date makes me think the latter is more likely.

Yeah I was thinking this might have been options related. It's concerning though if they had a GTC order and forgot about it.

[drk]

Yeah I was thinking this might have been options related. It's concerning though if they had a GTC order and forgot about it.

Now that I think about it again, the date makes sense as settlement for options exercised on March 25. Maybe OP had 10 $350 QQQ calls and forgot to sell them.

[TheTimeLord]

I haven't filed a police report. Don't think it's my compromised password. It is fidelity itself

You think Fidelity placed the trade, or someone hacked Fidelity to mysteriously purchase shares in your account? So what is the motivation behind this unauthorized trade? Is Fidelity trying to run up your margin interest, a benevolent hacker trying to get you into a good stock or is a CEO hacking accounts on Fidelity with hopes of driving their stock price up by purchasing shares in strangers account? Or do you think this is just a glitch of some sort?

[Marseille07]

Yeah I was thinking this might have been options related. It's concerning though if they had a GTC order and forgot about it.

Now that I think about it again, the date makes sense as settlement for options exercised on March 25. Maybe OP had 10 $350 QQQ calls and forgot to sell them.

The OP should check their order history / status. I don't do options but pretty sure some trace of their activities would be available.

[drk]

The OP should check their order history / status. I don't do options but pretty sure some trace of their activities would be available.

Most definitely. No offense to the OP, but omitting details that they clearly have ("a margin purchase of 1000 shares on 3/29") makes me skeptical that this was a hack or whatever.

[starboi]

OP you may have had a short put option assigned or maybe a long call option exercised.

[lazynovice]

A hack seems unlikely. If you are going to risk prison for financial fraud, you steal money. You don’t place a trade in an account and leave it there.

It’s possible someone placed a phone trade and the rep chose the wrong account but given all the verification steps you go through on the phone, that seems unlikely as well.

I’d file a police report if that is what Fidelity told me to do.

[H-Town]

I always got alert notification from Fidelity both from the app and from emails. Vanguard also sent me a text when an order is placed, and it sends me an email for trade confirmation. Those are expected.

[JamesSFO]

If you genuinely believe this to be fraudulent, highly recommend you file a police report. You are much more likely to get help from Fidelity.

[alex_686]

1000 shares are 10 options contracts. I know little about options, but I wonder if a long-forgotten option exercised. Or a lingering GTC order completed.

FIdelity auto-exercises ITM options at expiration, so the former is possible, but the date makes me think the latter is more likely.

A nit, but it is a exchange requirement - so this would be true no matter where the OP was doing business.

[TheTimeLord]

If you genuinely believe this to be fraudulent, highly recommend you file a police report. You are much more likely to get help from Fidelity.

It is my understanding companies require police reports in cases like this to prevent users from making fraudulent or frivolous claims since it is legal to file a false report.

[Dukethegator]

File a police report. And hope you weren't on something like ambien that made you trade in your sleep.

[JazzTime]

Yeah I was thinking this might have been options related. It's concerning though if they had a GTC order and forgot about it.

Now that I think about it again, the date makes sense as settlement for options exercised on March 25. Maybe OP had 10 $350 QQQ calls and forgot to sell them.

It would be helpful if the OP would indicate if he trades options and if he possibly had outstanding options in this security. I don't recall exactly how Fidelity reports option exercises, but I suspect that the activity history would delineate the trade as an option exercise vs a straightforward purchase. Then again, I just don't recall how it was done in my situation many years ago.

Also, option exercise can occur AT ANY TIME, not just at expiration. I learned that the hard way when, prior to extricating a short put position, I found myself the proud owner of way too many shares. That won't happen again. If I have a short put position that is ITM, I roll it out before it can be exercised - i.e., well before the expiration date.

[drk]

A nit, but it is a exchange requirement - so this would be true no matter where the OP was doing business.

Huh! I didn't know that. I assumed that brokers would close out the position if the customer didn't have sufficient cash or margin to exercise.

NB: this assumption did not influence my behavior, so no need for warnings.

Also, option exercise can occur AT ANY TIME, not just at expiration.

That's true. Maybe OP was short an American-style put option and just ... forgot.

[alex_686]

A nit, but it is a exchange requirement - so this would be true no matter where the OP was doing business.

Huh! I didn't know that. I assumed that brokers would close out the position if the customer didn't have sufficient cash or margin to exercise.

I once worked the options desk. I have seen options in the money by 12.5 cents (which was the trigger way back when) get auto exercised on Friday. Why wouldn’t a client exercise to make free money? And then have the stock slump by 50% when it opened on Monday. Nasty nasty stuff.

[rkhusky]

If you genuinely believe this to be fraudulent, highly recommend you file a police report. You are much more likely to get help from Fidelity.

It is my understanding companies require police reports in cases like this to prevent users from making fraudulent or frivolous claims since it is legal to file a false report.

OP was told by Fidelity rep to file a police report if his phone was hacked.
I don’t think the local police will be much help if Fidelity was hacked or Fidelity made an error or the OP made an error.

[exodusNH]

If you genuinely believe this to be fraudulent, highly recommend you file a police report. You are much more likely to get help from Fidelity.

It is my understanding companies require police reports in cases like this to prevent users from making fraudulent or frivolous claims since it is legal to file a false report.

OP was told by Fidelity rep to file a police report if his phone was hacked.
I don’t think the local police will be much help if Fidelity was hacked or Fidelity made an error or the OP made an error.

They won't, but it does demonstrate that the OP believes this is fraud rather than buyer's remorse as filing a false police report is a crime.

I don't believe this was fraud. It just doesn't make sense as the supposed fraudster doesn't benefit in the slightest. If it had been a penny stock, ok, I could see a fraudulent pump scheme, but not with a stocks that is $350/share!

It seems that it's either a technical glitch on Fidelity's part, which seems unlikely, or a forgotten purchase of 10 options / outstanding GTC order.

[TheTimeLord]

If you genuinely believe this to be fraudulent, highly recommend you file a police report. You are much more likely to get help from Fidelity.

It is my understanding companies require police reports in cases like this to prevent users from making fraudulent or frivolous claims since it is legal to file a false report.

OP was told by Fidelity rep to file a police report if his phone was hacked.
I don’t think the local police will be much help if Fidelity was hacked or Fidelity made an error or the OP made an error.

True, but as I understand you contact the police to establish you believe a crime has been committed, not because you believe they will resolve it. But I could be off base.

[rkhusky]

If you genuinely believe this to be fraudulent, highly recommend you file a police report. You are much more likely to get help from Fidelity.

It is my understanding companies require police reports in cases like this to prevent users from making fraudulent or frivolous claims since it is legal to file a false report.

OP was told by Fidelity rep to file a police report if his phone was hacked.
I don’t think the local police will be much help if Fidelity was hacked or Fidelity made an error or the OP made an error.

True, but as I understand you contact the police to establish you believe a crime has been committed, not because you believe they will resolve it. But I could be off base.

I read the post as OP was leaning towards a Fidelity mistake, rather than a crime. If OP doesn’t return with details, it was likely OP’s mistake.

[TheTimeLord]

If you genuinely believe this to be fraudulent, highly recommend you file a police report. You are much more likely to get help from Fidelity.

It is my understanding companies require police reports in cases like this to prevent users from making fraudulent or frivolous claims since it is legal to file a false report.

OP was told by Fidelity rep to file a police report if his phone was hacked.
I don’t think the local police will be much help if Fidelity was hacked or Fidelity made an error or the OP made an error.

True, but as I understand you contact the police to establish you believe a crime has been committed, not because you believe they will resolve it. But I could be off base.

I read the post as OP was leaning towards a Fidelity mistake, rather than a crime. If OP doesn’t return with details, it was likely OP’s mistake.

What is OP thinks really isn't relevant to why Fidelity wants him to file a police report, I assume it is their standard procedure with he presented them.

[rkhusky]

It is my understanding companies require police reports in cases like this to prevent users from making fraudulent or frivolous claims since it is legal to file a false report.

OP was told by Fidelity rep to file a police report if his phone was hacked.
I don’t think the local police will be much help if Fidelity was hacked or Fidelity made an error or the OP made an error.

True, but as I understand you contact the police to establish you believe a crime has been committed, not because you believe they will resolve it. But I could be off base.

I read the post as OP was leaning towards a Fidelity mistake, rather than a crime. If OP doesn’t return with details, it was likely OP’s mistake.

What is OP thinks really isn't relevant to why Fidelity wants him to file a police report, I assume it is their standard procedure with he presented them.

Seems like the rep’s motivation was to get him off the phone so he could take another call.