Preventing thieves from taking over your business checking account

Yesterday I warned about the dangers to business checking accounts from the tax information hacked from the SC Department of Revenue. 

There is concern that armed with the checking account and routing numbers, the thieves might be able to fool your financial institution and directly pull money out much in the same way a credit card company or other vender would be paid.  It is my understanding that if this happens, the financial institution would be responsible for replacing the lost funds.   (If I’m wrong about the financial institution being libel for this, please contact me.)

But who needs to have this worry and possibly face writing bad checks because the balance you thought was in the account wasn’t there.  So I’ve been recommending that businesses simply close down their checking accounts that have been compromised (and 700,000 were) and re-open them.  You’ll have to pay for new checks but you’ll also have a new account number that the thieves won’t have.

However, yesterday I also talked about corporate account takeover.  This happens when the thieves target a business based on the financial information they now have (thanks to the Department of Revenue) and manage to infect the business computers with malware.  (Think this isn’t easy?  Ask the Department of Revenue.)

The malware finds the computer used for online banking and it monitors the checking account.  When the time is right, the malware instructs the financial institution to make a payment to the thieves.  This fraud is not the financial institution’s fault because the instructions for the fraudulent transaction came from the business computer.   And while such fraud perpetrated on a personal checking account would be covered by the financial institution because of federal regulation, there no requirement for the financial institution to cover a business loss (just read your online business banking agreement).

Scary isn’t it?  So what can you do? 

I only know two options.

The first is inconvenient.  Stop using online banking.  This might be a solution for some businesses but not all.

The second will cost.  Buy protection against corporate account takeover. 

Yes, this does exist.  One company will provide your business with software to download to hopefully block the account takeover malware.  But if this doesn’t work the protection plan provides for fraud loss reimbursement up to $100,000 per checking account and $500,000 per customer.  There is no underwriting and no deductible.   The price for this protection runs about $200 a year.

If you want more information about this option, just email me at sbchamber@scsbc.org.

The businesses of this state didn’t ask to be put in this position and we certainly didn’t ask to be inconvenienced or have added costs.  But here we are.

The question is—how much risk and worry are you willing accept for years into the future before you do something to protect the money in your business checking account?

Protecting business checking accounts after hacking

Frank Knapp appeared on SC ETV’s Connections this past Friday evening.  Host P.A. Bennett talked with Frank about the dangers to businesses as a result of the hacking of tax data from the S.C. Department of Revenue.  Also appearing on the show was Carri Grube Lybarker of the S.C. Dept. of Consumer Affairs, FBI Special Agent Chris McLure and financial empowerment coach Karen Jenkins.  Click here to watch the show entitled “Protecting Your ID”.  Frank’s segment starts 13:55 minutes into the program.
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The total potential consequences of the hacking theft of South Carolina tax information on 700,000 businesses is gradually getting through to the public and, for that matter, the Administration of Governor Nikki Haley. 

Haley first characterized the threat to businesses as no more than the risk we have when we “give a check to your grocery store.”  She asserted that the business information the hackers stole somehow wasn’t a secret at all.  “They got what was already public.”

But to make businesses feel more secure her office offered a state-funded business credit monitoring protection from Experian and then later much the same service at no cost from Dunn & Bradstreet.

But the business threat is much more serious than simply identity theft which results in results in destroyed credit.  The actual money a business has in a checking account is at risk.

Two weeks after the hacking of the Department of Revenue data, S.C. Treasurer Curtis Loftis brought to Columbia security expert Chris Swecker, the former head of the Charlotte office of the FBI and Bank of America’s corporate security.  Swecker told a symposium on the issue that up to $360 million could be swiped from individual and business bank accounts because of the data breach.

From the very beginning that the public was made aware of this failure to protect taxpayer information I have been preaching that businesses should at a minimum close their checking accounts and re-open them with new account numbers.  At least we can make one part of the information stolen obsolete so as to protect against the thieves fraudulently pulling money directly out of checking accounts.

However there is a much more insidious threat—corporate account takeover.  Swecker pointed out that the thieves can use the business tax information to target high-income businesses.

Corporate account takeover is real, costly and not hard to do when the thieves have all a business’s tax information.  The thieves can target the businesses most likely to have significant cash from time to time in their corporate checking accounts.  Business websites will give all the information the thieves will need to send malware to office computers.  Just as someone at the Department of Revenue downloaded malware that let to this debacle, someone at the business will unknowingly do the same.

Once in the door, the malware will find the computer used for online banking and it’s over.  The thieves will know when is the right time for them to strike.  The money will be gone and the financial institution cannot be held accountable.

There are some solutions to this problem.  One is inconvenient and the other will cost.  I’ll discuss them tomorrow.

 

Missed opportunity to fight obesity

The first negative consequence of South Carolina Governor Nikki Haley joining fifteen other states in opting out of a state-run health insurance exchange under Obamacare has surfaced.

Haley’s Department of Health and Environmental Control has made fighting obesity in South Carolina a number one priority.  The director of the agency has formed a state obesity council to pull together all the organizations around the state working on the issue to learn from each other and better coordinate efforts.

One of the efforts that will be missing is forcing health insurance carriers to also help solve the problem with programs imbedded in their policies.  According to Dan Mendelson, CEO of Avalere health, that is what a state-run insurance exchange could have required in states with obesity problems.

If that state were running its exchange, it could say to insurers 'We want to make sure you have a plan that encourages diet and exercise.' Medicaid frequently does this. The program is always tailored to the specific needs of the state.  By ceding the prerogative on their exchanges, states lose the opportunity to make those choices.

Of course even if South Carolina did run the exchange, it is probably unlikely that it would have dictated anything to the insurance carriers given its past reluctance to regulate anything about the insurance industry.

Happy Thanksgiving

Sorry I’ve not been blogging much recently.  Many other pressing things have come up.  So to give you a worthy blog to read over the holidays, below is one by my friend Nicole Tichon, executive director of the Tax Justice Network USA.   This blog ran recently in The Huffington Post.  Enjoy.

Happy Thanksgiving!

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The Huffington Post
November 20, 2012

Free Enterprise is Not Free
By Nicole Tichon

There's been a lot of talk about what we can't afford as a nation and who is getting what "gift" or which free ride. When President Obama recently met with CEOs and chatted with Jamie Dimon over the weekend, we should hope he issued a stern warning that the tax avoidance games (legally) played by big banks and multinational corporations are on the chopping block. When it comes to cutting, eliminating and restructuring things, these loopholes should be top-of-mind for all leaders.

For all the talk of the importance of giving corporations "certainty" to make sure they can remain "competitive," we aren't hearing a whole lot about what's being asked of them. After all, free enterprise is not free.

In the coming days, weeks and months there will be many pivotal conversations about how and where to tax corporations and how to reform our corporate tax system. Don't believe the hype that these issues are too complicated. They're not. If you paid more than 1.9 percent in income tax, you paid a higher rate than Apple. Period.

Collecting taxes on profits shifted offshore by corporations that benefit from government tax credits, tax loopholes, huge government contracts and, yes, doing business here should be like collecting low-hanging fruit. Both political parties need to work together to combat the damaging effects of the offshoring of jobs and revenues. Our current system drains our treasury. It threatens basic services and national security.

Citizens get it. According to a new poll by Hart Research on behalf of Americans for Tax Fairness, "84 percent of voters approve of increasing taxes on the profits American corporations make

These issues were put on the national stage because of a presidential candidate who uses offshore accounts, and by the reporting of tax shell games by Apple, Google, Starbucks, Microsoft and General Electric. In the U.S., Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard have been investigated, with troubling results. A Senate investigation found that from 2009 to 2011, "Microsoft shifted $21 billion offshore, almost half its U.S. retail sales revenue, saving up to $4.5 billion in taxes on goods sold in the United States." Now, in the U.K., Amazon, Starbucks and Google are being questioned by the government for shady tax practices.

The Obama administration and Congress need to correct a flawed system that has fostered legal tax avoidance and thus raised the ire of progressives, such as Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), and conservatives, such as Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla), alike.

Who can defend companies making record profits skipping out on their tax bills? Who can honestly keep holding up the disingenuous argument that multinational corporations in the U.S. pay the highest rate in the world when the fact is that it just ain't so?

Consider: According to the Congressional Budget Office, the average tax rate that corporations pay on domestic profits in the U.S. is about 12 percent. In fact, the current system is basically a yearly backdoor bailout: "a system that barely taxes them as it is."

Moving forward, we'll hear lofty-sounding ideas about "broadening the base, lowering the rates, closing loopholes," and more technical ideas about moving to a "territorial system" of taxation.

Let's start with the former: The loopholes that need to be closed are those that enable the largest corporations to pay extraordinarily low tax rates or no tax at all by shifting profits, patents and headquarters offshore. These cost us $100 billion per year. Let's talk about the multinational corporate tax base and those low or non-existent rates. If you're thinking that a corporation can't get lower than a 0-percent tax rate, think again.

With respect to the latter, lawmakers are in danger of making a bad situation worse. A "territorial system" would be tantamount to a permanent tax holiday for corporations. Under this system, companies would not have to pay U.S. federal income taxes on foreign earnings when they bring the profits back to the United States. These "foreign" earnings include the money that companies such as Google pay themselves for their own products or patents conveniently parked offshore. The sieve that is our system of taxing multinational corporations would become a gaping gulf into which even more revenues and jobs will fall.

Powerful special interests and CEOs have already lined up their money, their lobbyists and their media machine to try to lull lawmakers and citizens into believing that they're the grownups at the table and know what's best for you. They don't. Instead, they benefit from a system rigged for their interests. And now they want more, at your expense. According to the Institute for Policy Studies, 63 "Fix the Debt" companies that are publicly held stand to gain as much as $134 billion in windfalls if Congress approves one of their main proposals: a territorial tax system.

This is a critical time, and decisions made about taxation will have long-term and profound effects. It's not fair to continue to ask taxpayers and those who have paid into the system to sacrifice, while failing to collect existing tax revenue from corporations making record profits.

Free enterprise is not free. The nation's budget situation may be reason enough for some to close these loopholes, but the ramifications go much further. American corporations that benefit from the workforce, infrastructure, courts, markets and national security of the United States of America should not be allowed to avoid their responsibilities. In other words, passable roads, clean water, research grants and our national defense are not free.

Former U.S.-based corporations that have benefited from U.S. government research and development dollars and do the majority of their business in the U.S. should not be allowed to simply call a post office box in the Cayman Islands or an empty law office in Switzerland their "headquarters" to pass their tax burden to all other taxpayers.

Waxing on about loopholes without actually showing any real plan to close the most egregious kind is not leadership. False bravado about tough choices and hand-wringing about sacrifice regarding the debt by those who are driving the debt is patently ridiculous.

There's real money in cracking down on offshore tax dodging. Congress needs to close these loopholes and make large corporations pay taxes in the same country that provides them with the benefits and legal protections that make it so profitable to operate in the United States in the first place.

Follow Nicole Tichon on Twitter: www.twitter.com/TaxJusticeUSA

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/nicole-tichon/free-enterprise-is-not-free_b_2160577.html

Buy Local PSAs run across South Carolina During Holidays

Small Business Chamber Sponsors Media Effort
 

Columbia, SC—The South Carolina Small Business Chamber of Commerce (SCSBCC) in partnership with TV and radio stations across the state has launched a promotional campaign aimed at holiday shoppers. “BuySC” television and radio 30-second PSAs are running on about 12 TV and 29 radio stations. The PSA encourages shopping in locally-owned small businesses and asks consumers to use an online directory of local businesses. Watch and listen to the PSA at www.BuySC.org.

“There is a big media push for this weekend’s Small Business Saturday,” said Frank Knapp Jr., president and CEO of the SCSBCC. “But we want to remind consumers all during this holiday season to shop in their locally-owned small businesses. We can help grow our own economy by simply shopping with local small business owners. Every dollar spent in a locally-owned small business has three times the positive economic impact on the local economy than if that same dollar is spent in a big box store.”

The PSA was produced by Coal Powered Film Works in Columbia and is running in the Charleston, Columbia, Florence, Greenville, Myrtle Beach, Rock Hill, Hilton Head markets.

Toxic Chemical Reform Good for Business – New Poll

91% of Small Businesses Want Chemical Industry Held Responsible for Safe Chemicals in Marketplace

 http://asbcouncil.org/toxic-chemicals-poll

Washington, DC – American small business owners want the chemical industry to be held responsible for toxic chemicals in the marketplace, according to a new poll commissioned by the American Sustainable Business Council (ASBC). Small business owners nationwide show strong support for stricter regulation of toxic chemicals. The October study examined the attitudes and opinions of 511 small business owners around the country.

“Organizations like the American Chemistry Council have made anti-regulation legislation in Congress and state legislatures a top priority, pushing the myth that all regulations are a threat to small business growth,” said David Levine, Co-founder and CEO of ASBC. “But the reality is that small-business owners see the value of sound regulations to help guide the market to deliver innovation for safer chemicals and products, which consumers are demanding. This data shows that no matter what your political affiliation is, there is agreement that toxic chemicals need to be regulated to prevent risk for business and the public.”  

Pointing out that an earlier poll of voters found very similar opinions on the need for toxic chemical regulations, Frank Knapp Jr., Vice Chair of the ASBC Action Fund and president/CEO of the S.C. Small Business Chamber of Commerce said, “Small-business owners have always had a strong sense of community; they are not just a major part of local economies. They are your neighbors whose children go to local schools. Their families worship in local houses of faith and attend community plays and sporting events. They have the same interests, concerns and desires as the workers they employ and the customers they serve.”

“Failure of adequate chemical transparency and regulation in the U.S. denies both manufacturers and consumers the ability to choose alternative materials and products. Consumer choice is the basis of free enterprise. More choices for consumers is better for everyone,” said Ally Latourelle, VP of Government Affairs for BioAmber, based in Plymouth, Minnesota.

"Consumer confidence takes a dive when people learn that they are bringing dangerous chemicals into their homes, because there is no regulation. That's bad for business," said Andy Igrejas, Director of the Safer Chemicals, Healthy Families coalition. "This data shows that, like most Americans from across the political spectrum, small business owners believe that ensuring the health and safety of chemicals is good for our health and good for the health of our economy too."

The poll found:

--75% support stricter regulations of chemicals used in everyday products.

--87% support government regulations of chemicals used in growing food.

--73% support government regulations to ensure the products companies buy and sell are non-toxic.

--91% support chemical manufacturers being held responsible for ensuring their chemicals are safe.

--76% support tax incentives for companies that innovate to provide safer chemicals.

--92% support regulations to protect air and water from pollution by toxic chemicals.

--78% support government regulations to reduce air pollutants linked to environmental and health problems.

The poll details may be found here: http://asbcouncil.org/toxic-chemicals-poll

The only significant chemicals legislation to pass the Environment and Public Works Committee this year was the Safe Chemicals Act. It is pending in the US Senate, though unlikely to receive a vote in the lame duck session. However, with Democrats retaining the Senate, Senator Lautenberg is in a strong position to move the legislation and plans to do so early in the new year. The bill has 27 co-sponsors, including most of the Senate leadership. 

A petition for business owners urging Congress to update the 34-year-old Toxic Substances Control Act was started by ASBC. It can be found here: http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/6269/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=9082

The poll was commissioned by the American Sustainable Business Council and conducted by Lake Research Partners in partnership with Public Opinion Strategies.

The American Sustainable Business Council and its member organizations represent more than 150,000 businesses nationwide, and more than 300,000 entrepreneurs, executives, managers, and investors. The non-partisan council includes chambers of commerce, trade associations, and groups representing small business, investors, microenterprise, social enterprise, green and sustainable business, local living economy, and women and minority business leaders. ASBC informs and engages policy makers and the public about the need and opportunities for building a vibrant and sustainable economy.  www.asbcouncil.org

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Who would be eligible for Medicaid if expanded? Might be you.

With the re-election of President Obama and the Democrats with even more number in the U.S. Senate, all the indications are that the U.S. House will end its two-year effort to “repeal and replace” or simply stop Obamacare. 

Much of the upcoming battles now will be in the states over whether to expand Medicaid to their citizens with incomes under 138% of the federal poverty level. 

For the public to actually understand who would benefit if states expanded Medicaid as allowed under Obamare, first they need to know that state’s already cover the very, very, very poor under Medicaid.  In most instances these are hopelessly unemployed parents.

But when we talk about expanding the eligibility for Medicaid to 138% of poverty, we’re now talking about the working poor, with kids or not, who simply can’t afford health insurance. 

The U.S. Department of Labor looked at 2011 employment data for all different kinds of jobs.  Here is a list of those jobs that have 50% of their workers with annual incomes below 138% of the poverty level for a family of three.  See if you fall into one of these groups.  You might be surprised who will benefit if your state expands Medicaid under Obamacare.

Food Preparation and Serving Related Workers
Gaming and Sports Book Writers and Runners
Ushers, Lobby Attendants, and Ticket Takers
Counter Attendants, Cafeteria, Food Concession, and Coffee Shop
Combined Food Preparation and Serving Workers, Including Fast Food
Dishwashers
Legislators
Cooks, Fast Food
Gaming Dealers
Dining Room and Cafeteria Attendants and Bartender Helpers
Baggage Porters and Bellhops
Waiters and Waitresses
Farmworkers and Laborers, Crop, Nursery, and Greenhouse
Locker Room, Coatroom, and Dressing Room Attendants
Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop
Umpires, Referees, and Other Sports Officials
Cashiers
Amusement and Recreation Attendants
Agricultural Equipment Operators
Bartenders
Childcare Workers
Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials
Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners
Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations
Transportation Attendants, Except Flight Attendants
Cooks, Short Order
Food Preparation Workers
Grounds Maintenance Workers, All Other
Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers
Personal Care and Service Workers
Cleaners of Vehicles and Equipment
Laundry and Dry-Cleaning Workers
Photographic Process Workers and Processing Machine Operators
Food Servers, Nonrestaurant
Hotel, Motel, and Resort Desk Clerks
Barbers
Nonfarm Animal Caretakers
Sales and Related Workers
Pharmacy Aides
Parking Lot Attendants
Cooks, Restaurant
Personal Care Aides
Teacher Assistants
Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners
Personal Care and Service Occupations
Packers and Packagers, Hand
Crossing Guards
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance Occupations
Driver/Sales Workers
Cooks, Institution and Cafeteria
Retail Salespersons
Home Health Aides
Helpers--Painters, Paperhangers, Plasterers, and Stucco Masons
Bus Drivers, School or Special Client
Ambulance Drivers and Attendants, Except Emergency Medical Technicians
Helpers--Roofers
Taxi Drivers and Chauffeurs
Automotive and Watercraft Service Attendants
Manicurists and Pedicurists
Dietetic Technicians
Meat, Poultry, and Fish Cutters and Trimmers
Stock Clerks and Order Fillers
Security Guards
Landscaping and Groundskeeping Workers
Counter and Rental Clerks
Cooks
Craft Artists
File Clerks
Floral Designers
Nursing Aides, Orderlies, and Attendants
Couriers and Messengers
Motion Picture Projectionists
Teachers and Instructors
Sewing Machine Operators
Psychiatric Aides
Recreation Workers
Sales and Related Occupations
Skincare Specialists
Tour Guides and Escorts
Gaming Change Persons and Booth Cashiers
Bakers
Helpers--Installation, Maintenance, and Repair Workers
Painting, Coating, and Decorating Workers
Etchers and Engravers
Physical Therapist Aides
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand
Preschool Teachers, Except Special Education
Occupational Therapy Aides
Tire Repairers and Changers
Assemblers and Fabricators
Residential Advisors
Helpers--Production Workers
Photographers
Tailors, Dressmakers, and Custom Sewers
Woodworking Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Except Sawing
Healthcare Support Occupations
Telemarketers
Cutters and Trimmers, Hand
Slaughterers and Meat Packers
Refuse and Recyclable Material Collectors
Library Assistants, Clerical
Helpers--Brickmasons, Blockmasons, Stonemasons, and Tile and Marble Setters
Fabric Menders, Except Garment
Forest and Conservation Workers
Concierges
Funeral Attendants
Telephone Operators
Word Processors and Typists
Designers
Bus Drivers, Transit and Intercity
Merchandise Displayers and Window Trimmers
Reservation and Transportation Ticket Agents and Travel Clerks
Social and Human Service Assistants
Hairdressers, Hairstylists, and Cosmetologists
Switchboard Operators, Including Answering Service
Conveyor Operators and Tenders
Mail Clerks and Mail Machine Operators, Except Postal Service
Textile Bleaching and Dyeing Machine Operators and Tenders
Helpers--Carpenters
Helpers--Extraction Workers
Grinding and Polishing Workers, Hand
Veterinary Assistants and Laboratory Animal Caretakers
Office Clerks, General
Helpers--Pipelayers, Plumbers, Pipefitters, and Steamfitters
Receptionists and Information Clerks
Production Workers
Helpers, Construction Trades
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry Occupations
Bailiffs
Highway Maintenance Workers
Sewers, Hand
Farmworkers, Farm, Ranch, and Aquacultural Animals
Tellers
Transportation and Material Moving Occupations
Textile, Apparel, and Furnishings Workers
Machine Feeders and Offbearers
Sawing Machine Setters, Operators, and Tenders, Wood
Helpers--Electricians
Graders and Sorters, Agricultural Products
Construction Laborers
Door-to-Door Sales Workers, News and Street Vendors, and Related Workers
Light Truck or Delivery Services Drivers