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Employees of the Sands Casino Resort in Bethlehem, Pa., are outraged and angry that their personal information has been put at risk apparently because of their boss's outspoken political statements.
"Sheldon Adelson should just shut up and run his casinos instead of spouting off about world politics and causing all this trouble for his employees," one Sands employee told Gambling911.com when it visited the casino last week. "Iran and Israel have nothing to do with gambling so why is he talking about it?"
Another employee of the casino, who also didn't want his name used for fear of losing his job, told Gambling911.com: "Because of him (Adelson), my social security number was posted online for the world to see and who knows who saw it and what they're going to do with it. I'm terrified. My identity could be stolen. The Sands has offered all employees who had their social security numbers posted so-called 'identity theft protection' but a lot of good that does you after the fact."
Hackers last month temporarily took over the home page of the casino and posted statements criticizing Sands chairman and CEO Sheldon Adelson over comments he made about Iran and its nuclear program. The hackers also posted the social security numbers and other personal information of hundreds of Sands Casino Resort employees, in what has become one of the largest security breaches in gambling history. Adelson, 80, a Jewish Republican and multi-billionaire, said last year in a newspaper interview that the USA should bomb Iran with a nuclear missile to deter it from developing its own nukes that could threaten Israel.
Before the casino's website was taken offline by the hackers, an image was put up showing Adelson posing next to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Also shown was a map of the world with flames where Sands has U.S. casinos and the message, “Damn A, don’t let your tongue cut your throat. Encouraging the use of weapons of mass destruction, under any conditions, is a crime." In addition, personal info about Sands Casino Resort employees, including e-mail addresses and social security numbers, were posted on a continuous scroll. The casino later promised to aid employees in preventing identity theft.
But for now, employees are furious. Furious at the hackers, furious that their personal information has been posted, but most of all furious that all this happened because the owner of the casino popped off about something that has nothing to do with business.
"This is unbelievable," another Sands employee said. "Adelson says something stupid and the hackers are taking it out on us by posting our social security numbers. We're the ones who are going to get hurt--the employees--not him. We're the ones living paycheck to paycheck. He's a billionaire."
Forbes magazine rates Adelson as the world's seventh-richest person with a net worth of $37 billion.
By Tom Somach
Gambling911.com Staff Writer
