The quintessential “Mom and Pop Small Business” that the GOP loves to crow about helping is in big trouble through no fault of its own. Is an incident like this something the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau would be interested in?
A neighborhood gathering place which has been an Indiana University icon for decades was hit for over $1 million in fraudulent debit card chargebacks over a short period around Thanksgiving.
The trouble began early on Nov. 23 when Nick’s co-owner and financial manager Susan Bright fielded a call from a prepaid debit card company reporting suspicious activity on the Bloomington bar’s account. It “flagged” six charges to Nick’s — each just under $1,000 apiece — and the company representative said the charges stood out because they all came from a card number with no previous activity at the establishment.
Nick’s English Hut is owned and operated by a local couple and has employed both students and permanent residents since the 1920s. Lots of celebrities have stopped by the place over the years, even the POTUS.
Nick’s has hosted many famous celebrities over the years, including musicians Roberta Peters, Dominic Spera, Al Cobine, Stan Kenton, Henry Mancini, John Mellencamp, Bix Beiderbecke, and Hoagie Carmichael; writers and actors Kurt Vonnegut, Art Buchwald, Dylan Thomas, Ernie Pyle, Kevin Klein, and Truman Capote; as well as athletic figures Steve Kinser, Fuzzy Zoeller, Bob Knight, and the 1984 Olympic basketball team, which included Michael Jordan.
Although the owners may eventually be compensated for their losses, the temporary hold on customer credit card purchases is causing major cash flow problems and they’ve had to scramble to find loans to cover their day to day operations. The case is being handled by the FBI.
IU started doing something about cybersecurity and related matters all the way back in 2003. Its time the GOP stopped posturing and joined the protection effort. No one can predict who the next victim might be. Bloomberg’s opinion? Obama played politics with the Cordray appointment. No, sorry – the Republicans have been playing politics for quite some months now with this and lots of other appointments. There are no grounds for complaint left.
