Chicago Blackhawks Legend Stan Mikita Hit with Identity Theft

Chicago Blackhawks hockey legend Stan Mikita and his wife have been nailed by identity theft criminals in an attack that hauled $100,000 out of their bank account.

The benefits of being a celebrity in America go without saying. We’ve reached the point where people like Paris Hilton are famous for…well, being famous. These celebrities receive huge financial packages for appearing at various events, which of course means the paparazzi also shows up and generates a ton of free publicity.

Celebrity sports figures can also run into problems. I love ice hockey, but readily admit it is probably only the fourth or fifth most popular sport in the United States. In Chicago, however, it has a huge following supporting the Chicago Blackhawks. One of the all time legends of the team, and currently its ambassador to the public, is Stan Mikita. Unfortunately, Stan has also just reported an identity theft loss that any of us could suffer.

Mikita and his wife have checking accounts with MB Financial Bank. The Mikitas are both retired and do their checking the old way – offline. Imagine their surprise when they learned they had withdrawn $100,000 from their account. Imagine their further surprise when they learned they had done this through the online checking access they had recently added to their account!



An investigation is underway and MB Financial Bank has already added $100,000 to the Mikita account. The police are involved and the pursuit of the online thieves is underway. Though the Mikitas’ are celebrities, this situation could happen to you just as easily. Obviously, someone got a hold of the checking account information for the Mikitas. This is actually easier than you might think. You give such information out all the time. How so? Why, just take a good look at what is on every check you write – your name, address, bank, checking account number and routing number. Frankly, it is a surprise that this doesn’t happen more often.

Identity theft is the bane of celebrities, but that doesn’t mean that people like you and I can’t get nailed as well. Watch your bank account and credit report closely. As soon as you see something suspicious, act quickly.

<< Back to Identity Theft Headlines