Latest news with #Thorson
Yahoo
19-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Brackett American Legion serves a dinner to bring family, friends and comrades together
BRACKETT, Wis. (WLAX/WEUX)—Eight years ago, US Veteran Doug Thorson joined the American Legion for one purpose. Thorson explains, 'I thought it was a wonderful opportunity for me to help my fellow veterans being in an organization that was veteran-based and assisting.' The American Legion is helping fellow veterans for Military Appreciation Month by thanking those who served our country and their families with a classic chicken dinner at Post 550 in Brackett. Legion member Brenda McMahon says, 'It's a well-received thing. The veterans get to eat free, the public is welcome, and it is a free-will donation for them.' This is the American Legion's 3rd year hosting the event, and it has grown every year. Thorson says, 'As we look around, we can see we have a full load of people here and that is wonderful to see. The building has plenty of people in here and a lot of camaraderie and a matter of touching base with we're here for everyone.' This simple chicken dinner is all about letting veterans know they are appreciated. Post 550 Squadron Leader and member of the Sons of the Legion, Dave Dohms, explains, 'Just so they know they are recognized and not forgotten about, and just try to bring everybody together.' The dinner goes further than that. It also works as a way To spread the American Legion's message. Thorson says, 'It is about the outreach to the veterans and how we can assist. It is not about us it is about you.' For the American Legion, the local community is essential. McMahon says, 'Without the community's help. We couldn't do this. We couldn't get to give back. We couldn't do anything we do.' The Legion says around 300 people came for the chicken dinner. They plan to continue hosting this feast as a way of giving back to veterans and the community that helped them. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Banks struggle to talk about fraud
This story was originally published on Payments Dive. To receive daily news and insights, subscribe to our free daily Payments Dive newsletter. Financial institutions are facing a flood of fraud, from push-payment scams to business email compromises to bad checks. Nonetheless, they're often stymied in trying to work together to root out bad actors. That was painfully clear to attendees listening to several panel discussions at the Nacha Smarter Faster Payments conference last month. The industry event attracted about 2,100 payments, bank and credit union professionals between April 27 and April 30 in New Orleans. Push-payment schemes, also known as credit-push fraud, that move over Nacha's ACH and other electronic payment rails have been particularly problematic. In these situations, consumers and companies are duped into sending payments to criminals under false pretenses, but because they do so voluntarily, it's more difficult to combat. It's become a pain point partly because the financial system revolves around monitoring for crooks sending payments, not those receiving them. Today, 'mule' accounts belonging to unsuspecting holders are used by criminals to receive funds that are quickly drained. Payments fraud in the U.S. is a multi-billion-dollar problem, especially among elderly consumers, according to the Federal Trade Commission. Fraudsters tap social media and artificial intelligence to their advantage to prey on consumers and corporate clients alike, with schemes becoming increasingly sophisticated. Tim Thorson, a senior vice president of payments risk at Regions Bank, lamented the problem during a Nacha panel discussion regarding that organization's plan to implement new rules addressing fraud. 'Credit-push fraud can take a small business down, and I've seen it happen, and I know probably many people in here have, and that's an extremely anti-social thing to happen to a small business, because the country's built on small businesses,' Thorson said. Part of the problem is that federal and state laws intended to protect customer confidentiality and thwart money-laundering may be interpreted in ways that hamper communication between financial institutions. 'I wish there was something that we could do amongst ourselves that would amount to something of a safe harbor, where we could talk to each other the way we used to before all the privacy laws came down 25 years ago,' Thorson said. 'We're still paranoid about divulging the information on a mule (account), for instance, on somebody clearly taking money that didn't belong to them.' Fraudsters aren't protected by such laws, but it's often difficult to determine quickly whether fraud between different institutions' accounts is happening. That's where more communication might help. 'One of the things that we identify as a potential roadblock to some potential sharing is just the sense that folks are not clear what they can share with law enforcement, and how really, they can work together to try and make a broader difference,' Scott Anchin, a vice president of operational risk and payments policy at the Independent Community Bankers of America, said during a separate panel discussion. Anchin's trade group created a task force with representatives from some 50 community banks nationwide to discuss fraud, he said during the panel focused on enabling institutions to work together. The cohort has also partnered with the non-profit International Association of Financial Crimes Investigators to create a guide for bank members, he said. Even though banks share staff contact information through a Nacha registry designed to connect workers from different banks and credit unions, such registries aren't always complete or up to date, often frustrating employees who try to use them. All too often bank employees trying to reach industry peers may have access only to a customer service line that devolves into a series of deadends. The situation may become more difficult when banks are intermediaries for unlisted fintechs. Nacha panelists noted a 'cultural' problem in the industry with banks and workers not interested in talking to peers, for whatever reason, including potentially competitive instincts. 'Instead of putting your direct line (in the registry), you put the call-tree-hell (number) because you hope that nobody will sit through it, but that doesn't get us anywhere,' said William Mills, a vice president for deposit and ACH operations at Premier Banks in Maplewood, Minnesota. Mills, who spoke on the Nacha rule panel, said he endured conversations with 18 different bank representatives at a large financial institution over four hours to resolve one issue. Conference attendees suggested larger institutions may be more guarded because they're seeking to safeguard their proprietary data. When asked about banks sharing information to combat fraud during an interview last month, JPMorgan Chase's payments technology head, Sri Shivananda, pointed to the government as the linchpin for information-sharing, via the Homeland Security Department's Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency. As for JPMorgan's role, he seemed to favor maintaining an edge on rivals. 'We have a competitive advantage on the data that we see through the number of transactions that we support on the platform,' he said. A major government public campaign to call attention to the rising fraud problem, or to address it, has been lacking, some panelists contended. There is no federal government office coordinating a response to this multi-billion-dollar crisis, said Paul Benda, an executive vice president of risk, fraud and cybersecurity policy for the American Bankers Association. The situation reflects a 'complete and utter failure' of the national government to spearhead a nationwide solution, he said. For its part, Nacha is implementing new rules to address the mushrooming payments fraud, asking financial institution members to submit plans for procedural changes. The rules aimed at changing financial institutions' processes and policies are being phased in, with additional deadlines next year. Unfortunately, many financial institutions aren't ready to make the improvements, according to Dominic Plumeri, who audits banks on the ACH Network in his role as vice president of member services at not-for-profit payments association Southern Financial Exchange. Nacha is also seeking to spur more information-sharing among its members by adding a new online means of connecting with each other to report fraud and attempt to recover funds. In addition, some financial institutions are turning to outside software vendors to help develop technology to flag potential account problems, sometimes based on changes in payment behavior, like increases in volumes or values being received or sent by customers. In the meantime, though, speakers at the conference said they fear losses are contributing to an expansion of organized crime rings, fueling the problem. Karen Helmberger, director of fintech and payments at the industry fraud-fighting organization FS-ISAC, emphasized the personal and financial tolls the crimes take on people. 'We are losing generational wealth across the sector in this country and it's going to these scam facilities wherever they may be,' said Helmberger. She urged attendees to focus not on the uncomfortable feelings they have about communicating, but rather on the 'really bad things' that happen when they don't. Recommended Reading ACI, states reach $20M in settlements over payments mishap Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
USA Today
04-02-2025
- Sport
- USA Today
ESPN projects 3 Georgia Bulldogs as All-Americans
True to form, Georgia was well-represented on ESPN's 'Way-Too-Early' All-American team projections. However, only punter Brett Thorson secured a coveted first-team selection. Following Brett Thorson's injury in the 2024 SEC championship, Drew Miller assumed punting duties, averaging 39.8 yards per attempt in the Notre Dame loss. Thorson, along with kicker Peyton Woodring and snapper Beau Gardner, will return to the Bulldogs in 2025 giving the Dawgs an elite special teams unit. Junior linebacker CJ Allen, who finished second on the team in tackles with 76, earned a spot on the All-American second team. With linebackers Smael Mondon and Jalon Walker departing for the NFL, Allen is poised for a leadership role in 2025, aiming to emulate the Butkus Award-winning linebackers who preceded him (Nakobe Dean, Roquan Smith, and Jalon Walker). Tight end Oscar Delp, who contributed four touchdowns in Georgia's final three regular season games, was named to the All-American second team. While his 2024 production was modest (21 catches, 248 yards), he and fellow tight end Lawson Luckie will be key targets for quarterback Gunner Stockton in the upcoming season. Five Bulldogs earned All-American honors in 2024, with only Thorson returning. This creates opportunities for emerging players like running back Nate Frazier and safety KJ Bolden to showcase their talents in the 2025 season and possibly reach All-American status.
