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The original was posted on /r/lifeprotips by /u/springer0510 on 2026-07-09 12:43:54+00:00.
Edit** As others have pointed out, I probably should have said retirement accounts or seldom looked at accounts. I personally turned off ACATS for my entire brokerage account because I rarely transfer money out.
ACATS fraud occurs when criminals use your stolen personal information (like your Social Security number) to open a new brokerage account in your name. They then use the Automated Customer Account Transfer Service (ACATS) to initiate a transfer, draining funds or securities from your existing, legitimate brokerage into the new fraudulent one.
Many people don’t look at their retirement accounts very often and fraud could go unnoticed for a very long time
This seems like a no brainer that this functionality would be off by default until you retire or of age to access the retirement funds penalty free. It’s usually very easy to turn on and off once logged in to your financial institutions website through security settings.
Also note this can be turned off for any account that you may not need to make regular transfers from.