My own damn 2FA app locked me out of my bank account yesterday

Honestly, I thought I was being all careful using Google Authenticator for bank logins. Then my phone died and I got a new one yesterday. Turns out I never saved the backup codes anywhere. Had to call the bank, waited 45 minutes on hold, and they had to mail me a verification code to my physical address. Took me 4 hours total to get back in. Anyone else learned this lesson the hard way about backing up 2FA codes?

2 comments

2 Comments

henrycooper1mo ago

Wait, isn't this exactly what the 2FA is supposed to do though? If you could just transfer all your codes to a new phone without any verification, then what's stopping someone who steals your phone from doing the same thing and emptying your account? The whole point is that only YOU should be able to get back in, even if it takes a while. I actually think banks SHOULD be this strict with 2FA recovery, because the alternative is way scarier - imagine if a hacker could just say "oops my phone broke" and bypass everything. Yeah it was a pain waiting for that mail, but I'd rather deal with that than come back to an empty account.

maryt621mo ago

Waiting for that mail was a total pain but you know what, it actually saved me once. I had my old phone stolen and the thief tried to use the 2FA codes that were still on it to get into my bank account. Since the bank made me go through the whole mail verification process, they couldn't just say "oh I switched phones" and bypass everything. The bank called me to confirm the change while I was filing a police report and I was SO glad they were strict. It took me 3 days to get the letter but my account was safe the whole time. I'll take waiting over losing everything any day.