When she learned TD Bank was to hold a fraud-prevention seminar on May 13, 2010, in Burlington, Vermont, she hopped on a plane and slipped into the meeting. During the morning presentation, when an expert in wire transactions was talking about ways that small businesses could protect themselves from the dangers posed by cybercriminals, McCarthy raised her hand.

Why wasn't TD Bank doing a better job protecting its small- business clients, she asked. How had TD Bank allowed $164,000 to be wired out of her account even though she hardly every made wire transfers? As the speaker tried to respond, McCarthy kept peppering him with questions about his bank's responsibilities to its clients.

Let's Talk Outside

Two bank representatives, including TD Bank's head of corporate security and investigations, walked over to McCarthy's table and suggested they continue the subject outside. McCarthy told the head of security it was good to meet him finally, since she'd been calling him for weeks following the robbery and had never gotten through.

Jennifer Morneau, a spokeswoman for TD Bank, confirmed that there was such an incident involving a "woman from Long Island" at one of its anti-fraud seminars, and didn't have any further information.

"We constantly monitor and assess the security of our systems," Morneau said in an e-mailed statement. "We also believe that educating our customers is one of the best ways to help them defend against online fraud and identity theft, because even the best security measures can only prevent fraud if customers are also vigilant about employing the necessary safeguards to protect their information."

Anti-Bank Website

With Woodhill's support, McCarthy started a website she calls www.yourmoneyisnotsafeinthebank.org and has organized other cybercrime small-business victims across the country. In industry presentations, Woodhill uses her as an example in describing what's wrong with online banking and the current rules governing the commercial accounts of small businesses.

"If every small-business account holder in America knew what Karen McCarthy had gone through, there would be a run on the banks," he said.

Last year Woodhill supported a proposed law, introduced by U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, that would have extended protections enjoyed by individual bank depositors to publicly funded entities such as school districts and town governments. Congress adjourned before any vote was taken.

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