Securing a trading account: six things to do

A trading account holds money and can move money out. It deserves the protection you would give a
bank account, and usually gets the protection people give a social media account.

1. Turn on two-factor authentication

The single most important step, and it takes two minutes. With 2FA, somebody holding your password
still cannot get in.

Prefer an authenticator app over SMS — a SIM can be hijacked, and that is a real attack, not a
theoretical one.

2. Understand MetaTrader’s three passwords

• The main password — full trading and management rights. Share with nobody.
• The investor password — read-only, cannot trade. This is the one to share if
  somebody needs to watch your account.
• The client area password — controls deposits and withdrawals. In money terms,
  the most important of the three.

All three must be different. A great many people use one password for all of them.

3. Nobody has the right to ask for your main password

No support agent, no account manager, no partner has a legitimate reason to ask for your trading
password. If somebody asks, it is a scam — no
exceptions.

If you want someone to see the account, give them the investor password.

4. Protect the registered email

The email is the key to everything: password recovery,
withdrawal confirmations, changes of detail. If the
email is taken, every other layer becomes meaningless.

• Use a dedicated email for financial accounts, not the one you sign up to everything with.
• Turn on 2FA for that email as well.
• Give it a strong password used nowhere else.

5. Be careful with devices and networks

• Never log in from a public computer.
• Be wary of public Wi-Fi — if you have to, use your own mobile connection
  instead.
• Download MetaTrader only from the broker’s or the developer’s official site. An
  installer from elsewhere can carry a keylogger.
• Be careful with downloaded EAs and indicators. They are programs running on your
  machine with access to the account.

6. Check periodically

• Review the login history in the client area if the broker provides one.
• Check the saved withdrawal methods — make sure nothing unfamiliar is listed.
• Read every notification email from the broker, especially any about a change you did not make.

7. If you suspect a breach

1. Change the client area password first, then the trading password.
2. Change the email password.
3. Contact the broker immediately and ask for withdrawals to be frozen.
4. Check the trade history for positions you did not open.

This article is for information only and is not investment advice. Conditions and fee levels are published by the brokers and can change at any time — check with the broker you actually use. Leveraged forex and CFD trading carries a high level of risk and can cost you your entire deposit.