Poker stars have always been a subject of hack attempts throughout the years. It seems that to be getting worse recently with many famous players complaining on Twitter. The likes of Vanessa Rousso, Dan Smith, Cate Hall, Vanesa Selbst were among those who were attacked. It raised the issue within the poker community and started a heated discussion.

What Doug Polk Thinks

Poker player Doug Polk released a YouTube video and shared his opinion on the matter. He explained that people are mostly trying to get the phones of the poker stars. The most common technique is to call the cell phone service providers and impose as the celebrities themselves. They would proceed to claim they got a new phone and request a switch of the service towards the new device.

This leads to a number of issues, especially since there are plenty of services that require an SMS verification. Polk gave an example with accounts that need to be recovered. You could request your data and if the intruder has your phone, he can get it. This could directly lead to identity theft and huge financial losses.

Famous Victims

One of the latest examples of successful hacking was Vanesa Rousso’s Twitter account. There were tweets she needed help. It turned out she never sent those and is actually no longer in possession of her account. Cate Hall suffered a similar problem when her Facebook and Twitter accounts were stolen.

One of the best female players out there, Vanesa Selbst actually had a bigger problem. Someone managed to hack her phone and change the pin number. It’s a nasty accident but it seems there are no bigger consequences so far despite the hackers gaining access to her Gmail account. Fortunately, her Bitcoin account is protected by a two-factor authentication which saved the day.

Our Two Cents

Obviously, hacking attempts are a terrible thing and there’s no reason to believe they will stop. High-stakes players are the obvious target because of their huge bankrolls. However, you should protect yourself as well. You never know what might happen and better be prepared for the worst.