Do not fall for any of the telephone scammers pretending to be the IRS. Hang up immediately and do not provide any asked for information if you receive a phone call pro porting to be from the IRS. The IRS does not contact taxpayers by phone, does not ask for credit card information or pre-paid debit cards, does not demand immediate payment and does not threaten police action or arrest if payment is not made immediately. If you get such a call hang up immediately and report the call to the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration at 1-800-366-4484 or at: www.tigta.gov.
Informational
Informational posts feature information and informational events that might be of interest to our membership.
NHS Graduate Named Superintendent …
Robert Banzer, a 1984 graduate of Northport High School, has been named as the new superintendent of the Northport – East Northport Union Free School District. Mr. Banzer, who holds a masters degree from the University at Albany – SUNY, and a bachelor’s from Hamilton College, is currently the Human Resources Director for the Wayne Central School District in upstate New York. He succeeds Marylou McDermott, who retired in January, and the current interim superintendent Thomas Caramore.
Tonight’s Rally Postponed
The Our Schools … Our Community … Our Voice Rally, scheduled for tonight in Patchogue has been postponed due to the weather. Rescheduling information will be posted as soon as it is available.
Chris Pendergast Responds to the The Theory of Everything …
Chris sent the following note to our membership —
The other day Huffington Post accepted an essay I wrote for publication. Perhaps some of my friends and colleagues might like to read it.
As an ALS Patient, Here’s What I Thought About The Theory of Everything
Thanks,
Chris Pendergast, ALS Patient
Ride For Life Founder & President
Alert from NYSUT – Security Breach
Anthem, Inc., the parent organization of Empire Blue Cross and Blue Shield and the hospital administrator for the NYSHIP Empire Plan reported an extensive security breach of their members’ data. Names, dates of birth, member IDs/Social Security numbers, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses and employment information of current and former members were impacted. In the coming weeks, Anthem will send letters to impacted members with an offer of free credit monitoring and identity protection services.
In the interim, direct inquiries to www.anthemfacts.com or 877-263-7995. The website includes FAQs and will be updated as additional information becomes available. Click here for a direct link.
You should be aware of scam email campaigns targeting current and former Anthem members. These scams, designed to capture personal information (known as “phishing”), are designed to appear as if they are from Anthem and the emails include a “click here” link for credit monitoring. These emails are NOT from Anthem.
DO NOT reply to the email or reach out to the senders in any way.
DO NOT supply any information on the website that may open, if you have clicked on a link in email.
DO NOT open any attachments that arrive with email.
Anthem is not calling members regarding the cyber attack and is not asking for credit card information or Social Security numbers over the phone. For more guidance on recognizing scam email, please visit the FTC website: http://www.consumer.ftc.gov/articles/0003-phishing.