by Jim & Phyllis Wilkins
Lions Club members pride themselves on being active community members and providing assistance to worthy causes. Unfortunately, as the following information from recent information provided from the LCIF website shows we can also become targets for scams.
During recent months, there have been a number of phone and email scams involving Lions. One member bought into an email scam and lost $2,700. Another received a check from Lions that looked legitimate, including correct routing numbers. Because she wasn’t expecting money, she called the Lions Help Desk and discovered it was a scam. The perpetrators are also posing as members and contacting other members to make donations via phone.
Unfortunately, if you lose money in a scam, there is no legal recourse and no way to recover the money. If you want to donate to LCIF, you can do so through your local club or by going to http://lcif.org/donate. If you suspect a scam, or if you’re unsure, please contact [email protected] or call 1-630-468-6800.
For tips on how to protect yourself from scams, visit the Lions Blog.”
Whether you are a Lions Club member, another civic group or any member of our community please beware of unsolicited requests by mail or phone from someone you don’t know personally. If you’re not absolutely sure who you are dealing with, take the time to check before making any kind of donation or providing any personal information. As I remember my own father telling me “If it sounds too good to be true it probably is.”
The Fairfield Bay Lions Club meets the 2nd and 4th Thursday evening of each month. Dinner is served at 5:30 p.m. (reservations requested by calling our Membership Chair Lion Mary Meadows @ 886-6388) and the meeting with guest speaker at 6 p.m. All meetings are open to members, visiting Lions and any interested persons. Our next regular meeting will be Thursday April 25 when the scheduled speaker will be Rick Ward, golf coach at Shirley School. BINGO is held each Monday evening at the Lions Den, with doors opening at 6:30 p.m. and the first game called at 7 p.m., with all proceeds used for local Lions Club charitable projects.