(continued...)   << RETURN

  ACSA Issues Statement about the "Attack on US Banks" by the Terror forces:

"THE BANKS ARE ALREADY UNDER ATTACK AND HAVE BEEN FOR TWO YEARS!"
 
In a very carefully worded statement, the ACSA Think Tank stated:

"We believe Economic Crimes have been engaged in against the banks, merchants and consumers, from the consortium headed by Pakistan, that comprises Terror Military from Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, the Palestinian West Bank, Nigeria, Benin, Ghana and Indonesia, all of it organized to

a) Undermine Banking relationships with merchants by successfully implementing charge back stolen credit card transactions, reversed wire funds transactions, charge off loan and mortgage transactions, and illegal currency activities. 

b) This has a corollary effect of reducing on hand Bank capital, reducing Banking profitability by increasing the lending radar line significantly reducing legitimate lending, and interfering with balance of payments, forcing bankruptcies, etc.

c) For some time, the US Mafia has been assisting the Pakistanis and the Terror forces, for money, infiltrating and helping them infiltrate companies and the banks themselves to fulminate even more transactions like the forgoing, many of them from WITHIN the banks themselves, using internal theft of credit card information, pocketing payment checks in financing groups, then issuing forged instruments to steal merchandise with, inflating them, and other scams.  They've been paying a cut to the Mafia for helping them, to whom it is just business as usual, just like the placement of boxcutters and knives on planes.  Basically, the Mafia will do anything, anytime, anyplace, for money.

d) These economic crimes have now been accompanied by use of the Banks themselves, infiltration and "ham and eggs" techniques that deploy Mafia operatives to disrupt businesses, lure big money from big businesses seeking anti-competitive assistance, and turning it into expensive deceptions that undermine small businesses and the entire economy.

e) New forms of counterfeiting, checks, bonds, etc., have become a means to this end, along with stolen credit and offering big deals that are mistaken by uninformed consumers into nothing more than theft of their bank account or the money in it, invitations to business meetings that result in assassinations and body disposal, and theft of identity, which has become rampant.

To counteract this, the US Government needs to pass several regulations that make the infrastructure of banking more stable.

a) Authentication.  All financial instruments such as loans, credit cards, letters of credit and checks over a certain amount engaged in by a Bank must require both parties be registered with the bank as to their LEGAL address, Identifying information such as Tax Ids, and in the case of Credit Cards and Bank Accounts, a CONFIDENTIAL 6 DIGIT PIN that is only ever transmitted by the party being charged, and the Bank, so the Merchant can authenticate them.  Siimilarly, no wire transfers should be allowed, unless the sender and the recipient provide bonafide authentication. States should start issuing CONFIDENTIAL 6 DIGIT PINs to Driver's License Holders, and provide a real time service to Banking and Financial Services companies and Banks, that authenticates the Driver's License in the same manner.  Similarly, the US Government should be issuing a CONFIDENTIAL 8 Digit Pin for Passport Holders, that can be securely checked at any US Customs point of entry or exit by entry in a keypad protected from view like a Password.  All Democratic Nations should adopt these three measures at once, to protect Bank Accounts, Checks, Credit Card Accounts, Driver's Licenses, Social Security Numbers, Military Registration Numbers, and Passports.  (An Override Pin should also be registered that requires telephone contact with the Pin Management Agent, to authenticate in the event a PIN is lost or forgotten, through secret word, id, and other information, so that a temporary pin can be issued in an emergency situation (but should be used very carefully.)   A Living Electronic Confirmation Management service bonded to Authenticate Individuals, should be developed by the banking industry, to instantly confirm the Authenticity of an individual.  Individuals with high dollar volume or figure responsibilities should by definition, register a confidential BIOMETRIC RECORD of their Right Hand Thumbprint, for further authentication purposes.   The benefit of these systems is that through the elimination of thefts of identity or forging of instruments, ALL THOSE ECONOMIC CRIMES SIMPLY CEASE TO EXIST.  Through proper security, rotation, and protection, the electronic confirmation systems can be thoroughly protected against infiltration by foreign intelligence operations.

b) Instrument Integrity.  As has the Bank of England, all US Banks must adopt formal Paper Hologram Forms on Checks used by individuals, that can NOT be reproduced.  A simple mechanism would be to embed the Hologram within the paper, where it could be scanned.  A secondary form, would be to provide a checksum Hologram 'chit', a tiny hologram that is affixed to each Check, whose number is incorporated into a numerical checksum, added to the rear of a check by the Check printing software.  Bank Checks payable to bearers or individuals or businesses should be protected by Hologram Stick-ons at the Banks, certifying their authenticity.  These should be developed proprietarily by the Banks. Credit Card Slides should be done away with, the impression system is too easy to be duplicated and largely isn't used anymore.  Instead, all Credit Cards should be read ELECTRONICALLY and should bear a complex internal electronic signature that simply can not be reproduced, that responds differently to transactions on different dates and for different dollar amounts, specific to the card holder.  All inbound transactions to the Electronic Clearing Houses, should be double encrypted using a combination of DES and PGP security, 256 Character keys, using a Public / Private combination unique to that Merchant and his Clearing House, that simply can't be cracked, and can be rotated periodically.

c) Personnel Integrity.  Banks need to make a business decision.  All persons working within them with even the slightest connectivity to either the US Mafia or any of the Terror Nations or their Terror Organizations, including: Pakistan, Iran, Iraq, Palestine, North Korea, Cuba, even Saudi Arabia or UAE, will have to be either taken out of any possible position that might give them access to vital bank or customer or transactional information, or given outplacement to a non-Banking or Banking Specific Service firm, immediately.  This will require the hiring of investigators to check out the background of all current employees, no matter whom, and will require very cautious efforts to protect the banks from being undermined from within.

We believe these measures are crucial and must be implemented before we go looking for "blow up the banks" approaches which would be too costly for the Terrorists, they could hit a few banks, and they might start using SUICIDE BOMBING on US Populations at any minute, and Banks are easy hits for them, but there are 1500 major banks in the USA and they have thousands of offices.  However, electronically and from within, they could and have been doing enormous damage to the US Banking Industry and the Economy.  And the Banks simply don't want to face it.  Meanwhile, we do feel that Banks, Hotel Lobbies, Railroad Stations, Bus Terminals, Theaters, and Restaurants are ALL primary targets for suicide bombers.  We believe that infiltrations have been bringing suicide bombers to the US for about five month, recruits from Pakistan, Palestine, Afghanistan, Egypt, Syria, the Sudan, Yemen, Saudi Arabia and so on.  They clearly intend to do suicide bombing to try and further damage American confidence.  We need to root out their Terror Cells, and wipe them out.  Expect suicide bombings to start in the US any moment."

(c) 2002 American Computer Scientists Association Inc.