On August 25th, President Barack Obama nominated Ben Bernanke to another term as chairman of the Federal Reserve.
In a story reported this week by The Economist:
“The decision was widely hailed on Wall Street and in Washington, DC. With few exceptions, politicians and economists lined up to praise Mr. Bernanke and to laud Mr. Obama for keeping him.”
Coincidentally, also on August 25th, Newsweek Magazine reported:
“Last summer, just as he was dealing with the first rumblings of the financial crisis on Wall Street, Bernanke learned that a thief had swiped his wife’s purse-including the couple’s joint check book. Later, someone started cashing checks on the Bernanke family account…”
“The theft of the Bernanke check book-never publicly revealed until now-soon became part of a wide-ranging (and previously underway) identity-theft investigation by the Secret Service and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.”
The shocking news is that the “previously underway” investigation exposed what the Justice Department calls “the largest alleged credit and debit card data breach ever charged in the United States.”
Many of the highest profile breaches in U.S. history are allegedly the result of this one mastermind’s activity. Thankfully, the ringleader and two of his co-conspirators are behind bars now.
Victims of the crime-spree reportedly include:
- Heartland Payment Systems
- Supermarket chain Hannaford Brothers
- 7-Eleven stores
- DSW shoe stores
- TJ Maxx stores
This is a wake up call for America. If brazen purse snatchers can swipe cash from our top banker’s checking account and hackers can swipe “protected” corporate data with impunity, then the average American continues to remain vulnerable beyond belief.
Protecting your mail, private pins , personal data, passwords, payment instruments (credit/debit cards, checks) and computer data is YOUR responsibility. Despite our best efforts, the portability of data outside of our control, leaves us all exposed in this digital world.
This truth-is-stranger-than-fiction story illustrates another truth. Without the dedicated and ongoing effort of law enforcement, your personal, medical or bank records are just as vulnerable as an attractive unattended purse, slung over the back of a chair at the local Starbucks.
