Page 16 THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, MARCH 21, 2025 Red Cross Giving Day, March 26, rallies 30,000 supporters to deliver aid when help can’t wait after disasters Financial and blood donations are needed now B OSTON, MARCH 17, 2025 — The Red Cross of Massachusetts is issuing a call to help ensure no one faces a disaster alone by donating on Red Cross Giving Day, March 26. During the fi rst 50 days of 2025, Red Cross volunteers responded to more big disasters in the U.S. than days — And that’s on top of everyday crises like home fi res that have upended lives here in Massachusetts. Meanwhile, more Red Cross blood donations have gone uncollected so far this year due to weather than throughout all of 2024. During the fi rst 50 days of 2025, Red Cross volunteers responded to more big disasters in the U.S. than calendar days. Since January, 27 Red Cross volunteers from Massachusetts have deployed to help communities recovering from disasters like the devastating Los Angeles wildfires and severe flooding in Kentucky. And that’s on top of everyday crises like home fi res that have upended lives here in the Bay State. Our local disaster action teams have responded to 140 home fi res, assisting more than 847 people in Massachusetts during January and February. Meanwhile, more Red Cross blood donations have gone uncollected so far this year due to weather than throughout all of 2024. “This year’s disasters have set a whirlwind pace, displacing thousands of people from their homes across the country and disrupting the nation’s blood supply for patients,” said Kelly Isenor, director of communications for the American Red Cross of Massachusetts. “As we enter spring disaster season, families are relying on us to come together as a community and support them when help can’t wait during future crises. Join us today by making a fi nancial donation or giving blood or platelets.” Visit redcross.org today to make a fi nancial donation or schedule an appointment to give blood or platelets in March: • MAKE A FINANCIAL DONATION: Donations will be part of Red Cross Giving Day, which aims to rally 30,000 individuals to help people affected by disasters big and small. A gift of any size makes a diff erence. For example, a donation of $3 can provide a comfort kit with supplies like a toothbrush, comb and shampoo, and a gift of $11 can provide a nutritious meal, snack and drink. For those who are able, any donor who gives $140 or more in March will receive a choice of a Red Cross monopack or a pair of socks as a thank-you for supporting our mission. Donors can make their gift and claim their thank-you by visiting redcross.org any time during March. • GIVE BLOOD OR PLATELETS: To help overcome the signifi cant weather impact on blood donations, the Red Cross also urges the public to give lifesaving blood or platelets by making an appointment today at RedCrossBlood.org, on the Red Cross Blood Donor App or by calling 1-800-RED CROSS. People of all blood types are needed now to help avoid further strain to the blood supply. The Red Cross is expanding its health offerings by performing free A1C testing (commonly used to screen for prediabetes and diabetes) on successful blood, platelet and plasma donations in March. Additionally, all who come to give blood, platelets or plasma March 1-31 will receive a $10 Amazon.com Gift Card by email. See RedCrossBlood.org/March for details on both off ers. BBB Scam Alert: Scammers are impersonating businesses, emailing consumers with fake subscription renewal notices E mail continues to be a popular avenue for scammers who want to steal consumers’ personal and fi nancial information. To trick consumers into clicking links and providing personal information, scammers are posing as legitimate businesses and emailing consumers. The Better Business Bureau (BBB) warns consumers to be extra vigilant when receiving urgent emails from supposed businesses asking for payment information. How the scam works: You receive an urgent email from a business you have a membership or an account with that states your subscription or membership has expired. The email asks you to click a link to provide your payment information. The email might even off er a special deal or discount for updating your payment information now. The email might look legitimate and include the business’s logo, and you might have even received the email around the time your subscription has expired or will be expiring. So, you click the link and provide your credit card information, only to fi nd out that the email and the website were fake. Your card might be charged, and a scammer now has your personal and fi nancial information. Scammers might also email you stating that your subscription to a certain business has or will be auto-renewing for a certain dollar amount, causing confusion and worry. They might provide a customer service phone number to call, which is actually fake. BBB Scam Tracker has received several recent reports about scammers impersonating different businesses through email. One consumer shared, “Received an email on 1/3/2024 that ‘my Sirius XM account has expired!’ This email came in one day after my normal Sirius XM renewal date. The email wanted me to go to a website and ‘insert’ my credit card info. … Before proceeding, I logged into my actual Sirius XM account and verified it had automatically renewed as normal. What threw me off at fi rst was that the scammer somehow knew my renewal date. I did not lose any money.” How to avoid impostor email phishing scams • Take a second look at the email. There are several red fl ags that identify phishing emails. Look at the sender’s email address — if it’s a long string of numbers and letters that don’t make sense, or if the email address just doesn’t look right, it’s likely an impostor. Scare tactics and urgent requests are also quite common for phishing emails, as are spelling errors and poorly written emails. Read tips from BBB (bbb.org) on how to recognize a phony email for more red fl ags. • Go to the business to confi rm the email. If you receive an email stating your subscription has expired or payment is needed, fi rst verify the information on your own. Consider calling the business’s real phone number directly (don’t use any phone numbers that are included in the questionable email you received) and verify your account details with them. • Keep track of your subscriptions and any auto-renewing payments. Keep track of any subscription or membership renewal dates and the anticipated charges on a calendar so you know when to expect them. That way, you can have a better idea of determining when a subscription renewal email is fake or not. • Think twice before providing payment for something you didn’t initiate. Don’t provide your payment information to anyone if you did not initiate the purchase. If you’re being asked to pay with your bank account number, prepaid credit cards, digital wallet apps or wiring money, this is a red fl ag. • Check with BBB Scam Tracker. If you’re questioning an email you received from a business, look up the details on BBB Scam Tracker and verify if anyone else has received the same type of email. This can help you verify whether or not the email is fake. • Once you verify the email is fake, report it as spam and delete it. Your email provider might provide an option for you to mark an email as spam. If you’ve verifi ed that the email is a scam, report it and delete it right away. Learn more about impersonation scams, and read about how to avoid impostor scams. BBB has several tips on how to spot scams, like how to identify a fake website, a scam text message or a phony email. If you receive a fake email from a scammer pretending to be a business, report it to https:// www.bbb.org/scamtracker to warn others.
17 Publizr Home