Happy New Year! Thank you for your business as we look forward to the opportunities 2023 will bring! Please remember we are ready and willing to “Lend a helping hand”!

I recently celebrated my 40th anniversary with our Bank. I started fresh out of college and worked my way up the ranks to President.  Now the time has come for me to pass the baton to the next President, Dan Korbel. We have been working diligently on our succession plan and have the utmost confidence in Dan, our management team, and staff to carry the torch of our Bank into the future.  I will continue to be involved with the Bank in more of a part-time basis and will also remain on the Board of Directors.

I am truly grateful to the Bank and to you, our customers, for the years of relationships built by working together just like good neighbors should! I wish you peace and prosperity in 2023 as I look forward to a little more time with family (especially grandchildren), Sandy and tractor time!

Jerome

Thank you Jerome. 

As this is my first President’s Message, as the new President here at First National Bank of Moose Lake, I would like to first introduce myself to those of you who may not know me.  I’m Dan Korbel.  I grew up on a small family farm in South Central Minnesota, where my dad raised polled Herefords.  I grew up working, from mowing lawns for relatives and neighbors, to stocking shelves at the local hardware store, to milking over 600 cows three times a day, and then working the production lines at Malt-O-Meal.  I eventually pursued my degree in Business Administration and Finance and started my banking career as a Credit Analyst at a Metro area bank.  After working there for a number of years in multiple different roles, I accepted a Senior Lending position here at FNBML.  I’ve been very fortunate, and I am very honored to transition into my new role as President, and to be able to take the reins and lead this amazing bank into the future.  I plan on working with each of you, as our loyal customers, to continue to build our relationship well into the future.  Next time you’re in the Bank, don’t be afraid to stop by and say hi.

As Jerome mentioned, he will continue to be involved with the Bank and will remain on our Board of Directors.  I can assure you that we will continue to provide the highest level of customer service, as well as a line of products and services that each of our customers deserve from their local financial institution. 

Speaking of products and services that we offer, I encourage each of our customers to check out our online banking, as well as e-statements.  By enrolling in online banking, it allows you to monitor the transactions and balances of your accounts and loans, right from your computer or cell phone.  And you can enroll in e-statements to not only save on paper waste, but also to help prevent your information from being lost or stolen in the mail.

Thank you for your business, and we look forward to continuing to serve you for many years to come!

Dan

What is phishing? Phishing is a cybercrime in which a target or targets are contacted by email, telephone, or text message by someone posing as a legitimate institution to lure individuals into providing sensitive information such as personal information, banking and credit card details, and passwords (www.phishing.org).

Anybody can be a victim of a scam and noticing the signs can help prevent identity theft and financial loss. Below are 10 red flags to look out for.

1. Sense of Urgency or Threatening Language

Phishers use emotionally manipulative tactics in order to persuade people to click. For example, a phisher might send a text message saying “This is a notice from law enforcement in [your city]. Your immediate response is necessary”. The enclosed link may deliver malware or direct individuals to a phishing site.

2. Unfamiliar Sender or Recipients

Experts generally advise people to avoid opening emails from unknown senders. These messages can contain executable code designed to launch immediately upon clicking on an embedded link or an attachment. After deleting emails from unknown senders, they no longer remain a threat.

3. Spelling and Grammatical Errors

Phishing messages used to commonly contain poor spelling and grammatical errors. Hackers are growing increasingly sophisticated, and are less prone to these types of slip ups than in years past, however, you might still be able to identify a phishing attempt based on clumsy language use.

4. Request for Payment or Personal Details

Any requests for money or personal details are phishing red flags. In many instances, the emails tell a compelling story – they include fake invoices, request a payment, say that you’re eligible for a government refund, ask people to verify information, tell people that a coupon for a big-ticket item is available…etc. They can even appear to come from well-known businesses that do indeed regularly request payment updates or that may occasionally experience issues processing your payment.

5. Compelling Subject Lines

The most-clicked phishing emails include seemingly generic, yet fear-inducing subject lines. Example: Official Data Breach Notification

6. Compelling Call To Action

The top five phishing scams use compelling language and include phrases like ‘expires in 4 hours,’ ‘click now’ and ‘Get information here’.

7. Too Good To Be True

Winning the lottery is an unlikely prospect. And winning a lottery that you didn’t enter is an impossible feat. Similarly, an email containing information about a prize or award notification may also be a phishing email. Avoid clicking on links in order to claim a prize. If you might have actually won a prize, contact the sender through a secondary channel to confirm.

8. Blurry or Clumsy Design Work

Some cyber criminals create clones of legitimate logos that appear exact. But others really need to hire a graphic designer. When trying to spot a phishing email, look out for weird logos, image-only emails, and poor design formatting. If unsure about the legitimacy of the sender, reach out to the group via a different channel.

9. Hi, It’s Alex in Sales

An email from someone who is purportedly new within the organization or that claims to be from “[common first name] in the sales division” might actually be from a cyber adversary using social engineering techniques. The age of remote work makes it particularly challenging to parse apart legitimate emails of these types from malicious doppelgangers. This is especially true in large organizations with thousands of employees.

10. Protective Shield

Humans recognize and relate to one another through consistent linguistic patterns. If you receive an email from a colleague that sounds nowhere-near their typical email tone, use a non-email channel to confirm the validity of the email with the sender. A few simple precautionary measures could prevent your organization from experiencing a major data breach.

Sources:

https://www.cybertalk.org/2022/02/28/14-phishing-red-flags-to-watch-for-in-2022

https://www.phishing.org

3 Ways To Protect Yourself Against Mobile Fraud

With the rise of technology, smart phones and tablets are part of almost everything we do. With all the sensitive information we keep digitally, it is important to be aware of mobile fraud and how to prevent hackers from accessing that data. Below are three ways to help protect yourself and your information.

1. Don’t use the same password for all accounts.

In 2019, Google identified that 65% of all people use the same password for multiple or all accounts. By having one password, it makes it easier for hackers to access more of your accounts.

TIP: create an acronym or a phrase and use numbers and special characters to complicate it. For example, instead of using “password” you could use “P@s$w0rD”.

2. Avoid autosaving personal information on mobile apps.

If a company data is leaked, your saved password could be part of that information. If an unauthorized user has access to your physical device, they can easily find all the saved passwords kept in the browser.

TIP: Keep passwords secure in a book or use a secure password manager.

3. Monitor activity regularly, like reviewing bank transactions.

By using online banking or the Moose Mobile app, you have access to real-time transactions. Check your account regularly to ensure you recognize all the transactions coming through.

At First National Bank of Moose Lake, we offer IDTheftSmart for our customers, which is a program that incorporates Credit Monitoring and Restoration of an Identity Theft situation. For more information, contact one of our Personal Bankers at 218-485-4441.

Source: The password reuse problem is a ticking time bomb – Help Net Security