Evan Schuman's StorefrontBacktalk

Were one of a mind to argue that identity theft is not a big deal and true victims are hard to find, it’s probably not a good idea to make that case in New York’s City Hall these days.

The Manhattan D.A. announced Tuesday that New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg had his identity grabbed and placed on some bogus checks totaling $420,000, written to be drawn on the Mayor’s personal bank account at the Bank of America. Distict Attorney Robert Morgenthau said the suspect, identified as Odalis Bostic, had done his research and had the checks issued in the name of the mayor?s financial manager, Geller & Company, according to this story in The New York Times.

But in what prosecutors said was an unrelated incident, someone else tried taking $10,000 from the mayor’s same personal bank account at Bank of America. This time, though, it was an online transfer to an E*Trade account. From there, that other suspect, Charles Nelson, was accused of using his debit card to make cash advances.

The details aside, it’s hard to imagine many consumers who would have more security protection than Mike Bloomberg, who is both a billionaire, the mayor of the nation’s largest city and a longtime media mogul (Bloomberg financial wire).

If Bloomberg’s bank account and other authentication details can be accessed, what chances do the rest of us have? This just might give the identity theft people the posterchild they’ve been needing.