Account Hijacking
The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) uses the term "account hijacking" to refer to the unauthorized access to and misuse of exisitng assets - like checking, credit and savings accounts.
In an account hijacking scheme a fraud perpetrator or account hijacker may ascertain an account's user name and password and then use that information to gain illegal online access to the account. The fraud perpetrator or account hijacker may then transfer funds to another account or gain information with which other fraudulent transactions can be completed. For example, with information about a checking account's balance and paid check numbers one or more counterfeit checks might be cashed against the account. In either case both the account owner and bank are victims of account hijacking.
Many banks now require two-factor authentication for account access or funds transfer, because they believe that the additional level of authentication will reduce fraud associated with account hijacking - see Ethent Notes: "Two-Factor Authentication" for a brief discussion.
For a more complete explanation of two-factor authentication see Interactive Demonstrations: "Two-Factor Authentication"
where you will receive a hands-on presentation of a two-factor authentication system.