THE SAUGUS ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 12, 2021 Page 19 CITIBANK | FROM PAGE 13 Protection Act. The attorneys general will be distributing the settlement to eligible consumers through Epiq Class Action & Claims Solutions, Inc., a settlement administrator. Consumers do not need to take any action to receive their funds, which will be sent as checks to eligible consumers in the middle of 2021. Only those Citibank credit card customers who meet certain criteria set by the settling states will receive a refund check. Consumers who have questions can call Epiq, the settlement administrator, at 855-914-4657. As detailed in a 2018 consent order between Citibank and the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB), the CARD Act requires credit card issuing banks to perform a “look back” at least every six months to review whether, for accounts where the bank has increased the APR due to credit risk or other factors, the factors that prompted the increase have changed. When indicated by the look back review, the CARD Act requires the bank to reduce the account’s APR. The CFPB’s Consent Order alleges that Citibank failed to properly implement the CARD Act’s look back requirements from 2011 to 2017. COVID-19 | FROM PAGE 1 are based on nearly a year of the Police Department doing its job in the midst of a Coronavirus pandemic. “I think it’s (COVID-19) definitely made a difference,” Ricciardelli told The Saugus Advocate in an interview on Wednesday (Feb. 10), attempting to put the crime trends into perspective. Fraud crime is thriving Clearly, people — particularly town residents with families — are doing a lot less driving because Saugus Public Schools have been shut down most of the year while people are doing more work from home to avoid the spread of the dangerous virus which has killed 62 Saugus residents since the outbreak locally last March. But fraud has been thriving 1. On Feb. 12, 1941, at what university on an island was the first injection of penicillin into a human? 2. How many Super Bowls has Tom Brady played? 3. What is the world’s most northern capital city? 4. On Feb. 13, 1946, the ENIAC, first electronic digital computer, was first demonstrated; what does ENIAC stand for? 5. In what decade were grape tomatoes introduced in the United States? 6. What long-limbed American president is in the Wrestling Hall of Fame? 7. February 14 is Valentine’s Day; Bay Stater Esther Howland, the “Mother of the American Valentine,” manufactured them in an assembly line in what Massachusetts city? 8. In what region would you find a gentoo penguin? 9. How are Alouette, Cannon Ball, Flying Yankee and Monadnock similar? 10. What U.S. president stopped school at age 11 and later became a land surveyor and joined a militia? 11. What has been frequently recommended to sing while washing hands to ensure a long enough time? 12. On Feb. 15, 1903, in what U.S. city did the first teddy bears go on sale? 13. What son of Abigail Adams grew up on a Massachusetts farm and was known to like fresh fruit? 14. What is the abbreviation for binary digits? 15. February 16 is the Mardi Gras Carnival in New Orleans; what does Mardi Gras mean? 16. How are “Bathing Beauty,” “Take Me Out to the Ball Game” and “Million Dollar Mermaid” similar? 17. What is the most popular poker game? 18. On Feb. 17, 1996, Deep Blue was defeated, which was what? 19. What are the Northern Lights also known as? 20. On Feb. 18, 1564, what Italian painter of “The Creation of Adam” died? ANSWERS during the days of COVID-19, according to Chief Ricciardelli, who noted that unemployment-related fraud had increased by 43 percent. “Unemployment fraud has seemed to have tailed off over the last few months,” the chief said. ”Now, we are seeing an increase in tax fraud, with people posing as IRS agents and in other cases, filing phony returns to steal peoples’ checks,” he said. One category of crime that has been induced significantly by COVID-19 has been disturbance gatherings — up 77 percent. “You get a lot of people who call when they see more than 10 people gathering outside,” Ricciardelli said. He noted that social distancing guidelines for crowds outside has put a cap on 10 people. “Obviously, we don’t want people congregating in big groups,” the chief said. “We’ve been getting calls about cookouts … or if somebody was throwing a graduation party. We don’t want this to turn into a super spreader event,” the chief said. He noted that police responded to a handful of graduation parties where the crowd was estimated around 50 people. In those instances, police responded to the parties and cleared the crowd, while trying to educate the homeowner about the potential health concerns of such a gathering. The chief said he found a five percent reduction in drug overdoses — not much of a change (83 to 79) — but of great concern. “It’s significant,” he noted, “in a year when a lot of other things are way down.” It shows that people with serious drug abuse problems are still desperate to satisfy their drug habits, he added. “Cabin fever doesn’t help” There were several crime categories which the chief believes were influenced greatly by people forced to stay at home. “Neighborhood disputes were up 30 percent. You attribute some of that to cabin fever,” he said. Domestic disputes were up by 10 percent. Cases involving psychologically-impaired were up by 10 percent, he noted. “Being stuck at home with cabin fever doesn’t help,” the chief said. In the early weeks of COVID-19, police used some discretion in making traffic stops to protect themselves from being infected with the virus. “In the early days when we were trying to process things out, it would take something egregious to pull them over,” the chief said. That has changed over the past few months, where police have been making more traffic stops, he added. Car accidents have dropped significantly as a result of COVID-19, with fewer people driving. For instance, the recent analysis by the Police Department showed that non-fatal motor vehicle accidents dropped from 344 to 266 and that crashes with property damage dropped from 585 to 401. “That’s pretty significant,” the chief said. “More people are working remotely and the schools are closed. It definitely has had an effect,” he said. Office/Commercial Space for Lease 3 Large rooms, each with walk-in storage area. Ideal for Law Office or Aerobics Studio. Like new condition. Second floor elevator direct to unit. Seperate entrances - New Baths - Large Parking Area. On MBTA Bus Route #429. Located on Route 1 South at Walnut Street. Rollerworld Plaza Rte. 1 South 425 Broadway Saugus Call Michelle at: 781-233-9507 1. Oxford in England 2. 10 3. Reykjavik, Iceland 4. Electronic Numerical Integrator and Calculator 5. The 1990s 6. Abraham Lincoln 7. Worcester 8. Antarctica and nearby islands 9. They are former B&M passenger trains. 10. George Washington 11. “Happy Birthday” 12. NYC 13. John Quincy Adams 14. Bits 15. Fat Tuesday (in French) 16. They are movies that starred competitive swimmer Esther Williams. 17. Texas Hold’em 18. An IBM chess playing computer (defeated by World Chess Champion Gary Kasparov) 19. Aurora borealis 20. Michelangelo
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