What is an account takeover and how can prevent it?

Account takeover is a form of identify theft where a fraudster gains unauthorized access to a victim's email account, e-commerce site, or any other variety of online accounts. Unfortunately, this access can lead to fraudulent transactions and / or unauthorized shopping from the victim's account. 

Generally, account takeovers occur because people often user the same username and passwords for a variety of their online accounts. If these email and password combinations have ever been illegally exposed, fraudsters will generally attempt to try these combinations on different online sites until they have successfully gained access. From there, they may change the account's email address or password so that the original account holder is locked out of their account. 

Wish is very serious about protecting your privacy. While we are constantly working to address these issues, we also recommend a couple things that you can do to protect your account:

1. Update your password and do it regularly: If your password has ever been illegally exposed, please update your password immediately. You can check if you have ever been hacked here. We also recommend that you change your passwords every couple of months. 
2. Use different and strong passwords: We recommend that you use a different password for each online account. This also means making sure that you use a strong password that is a combination of letters, numbers, and unique characters. 

We are always here to help! If you feel as if your account has been compromised and there are unauthorized transactions on your account, please email support@wish.com.