It's amazing how much bad publicity one little lawsuit can generate. And PlainsCapital, formerly of Lubbock, has managed to put it's foot in it good. If I was in investor I would be seriously questioning the leadership of the company right now. And if I were part of the Lubbock Economic Development Alliance I would be looking at damage control for Lubbock's reputation.
From the Denver Post: Lewis: Firm sued for being robbed
Why would I be looking at damage control? Because some of the authors of national stories about PlainsCapital suing Hillary Machinery don't know that PlainsCapital is now based in Dallas. So the stories talk about Lubbock based PlainsCapital, and proceed to make PlainsCapital - and Lubbock - look like a bunch of ignorant hicks.
ComputerWorld: Bank sues victim of $800,000 cybertheft
Of course, unless they had security measures in place that they aren't mentioning and someone just messed up, PlainsCapital acted like ignorant hicks, then acted more ignorant by trying to sue for vindication. I said it in the comments of my original post on this subject that email is not a secure verification method, and that point is being made by other observers. It's not like an expensive, high tech solution was needed. A simple requirement that no transfers be made without a phone call to verify they're legit would have prevented this.
From the codetechnology blog: Authentication issue at heart of lawsuit
So what would LEDA sue PlainsCapital for? Or maybe it should be the City of Lubbock suing them? I'm thinking defamation of character, damage to their brand, brand dillution...shoot, I don't know, but surely there's some stupid lawsuit they can hit them with that won't be as stupid as PlainsCapitals suit against Hillary.
From BankinfoSecurity.com: Texas Bank Sues Customer After $800,000 Scam
And a few more just because four stories don't demonstrate how widely this is being reported:
From Foxnews: A video clip
From Dallas Morning News: PlainsCapital suing customer Hillary Machinery over cybersecurity
From the e-business blog: Cybertheft victim gets sued by bank
From Techdirt: Bank Sues Identity Fraud Victim After $800,000 Removed From Its Account
And from the forums at Barrelhorseworld.com: We were cyber attacked/robbed...
Enjoy your weekend.
Man, if people and companies can sue each other for the bad press of being stupid, Jim Bob Darnell would have his docket jammed for decades.
ReplyDeleteScott, call me simple but I am not sure I understand what your saying. Care to simplify?
ReplyDeleteHaven't you been paying attention to what goes on in civil courts, Scott? You can sue for anything.
ReplyDeleteBut I'm not really advocating LEDA or CoL sue PlainsCapital, I am saying that this whole fiasco has gone far enough, and PlainsCapital needs to wake up.
Brief History: Mr. M had a lot of money. Alan married the money. It took 20 years, but Alan got the money over onto his side of the ledger. Alan divorced the former owner of the money. Alan immediately took off to Fort Worth. Plains Capital is no longer a "friend" of Lubbock. Never was.
ReplyDeletePlainsCapital Bank v Hillary Machinery as Web 2.0 lawsuit . . .
ReplyDeleteI have been researching this case. The fight continues. Not only is it remarkable because the bank is suing the customer; it is remarkable because the little customer is exploiting web PR tactics as an asymmetrical weapon against a much more powerful adversary. My analysis: http://legal-beagle.typepad.com/wrights_legal_beagle/2010/02/public-relations.html
For what it's worth, the short url for my blog post is bit.ly/public-relations
--Benjamin Wright
Dallas, Texas
I read your post and did a brief comment on it. I appreciate your level headed approach - I've gotten a bit cavalier at times. With the information we have, I don't see how the banks lawyers let them file the suit. But if they did have other security available and it was turned down by Hillary, that would indeed change the situation. I would still say the bank should have insisted, but the lions share of blame would be Hillary's. It will be interesting to see what sees the light of day as this progresses.
ReplyDeleteFinally checked out your blog, Bert, and I'm impressed with the display of thoughtful conversation and erudite observation, not to mention just plain common sense.
ReplyDeleteI will be stunned if PlainsCapital gets a favorable judgement in this case. It appears to me that the facts speak for themselves and, on its face, this is a case of negligence and irresponsibility on the part of the bank.
Well, I've learned a little bit about the law governing these situations now, and it's not as cut and dried as it should be. I still think that Hillary has a very strong case and should win, but I'm no longer sure it's a slam dunk. It all depends on the definition of "commercially reasonable" and I'm not sure that's been clearly defined.
ReplyDelete