Dear Brethren,

As the holidays and the season for giving approaches, please be ever vigilant for hackers, spam and outright fraudulent activities aimed at deceiving you into releasing money or personal information for an alleged "good cause".

Recently, the Chairman of the Masonic Brotherhood Fund received an appeal to assist the Masonic Care Community with buying gift cards for indigent residents. The appeal allegedly came from the Grand Master, which has been verified as totally false.  See the attached file.

Please pass the word to all of your members to guard against becoming a victim.  If you should receive similar appeals or you are suspicious of a robo call, text message or other correspondence; please call the Masonic Care Community, the Masonic Medical Research Institute, or the Masonic Brotherhood Fund, directly to verify authenticity. Never make contact using the link, email or telephone number included in the suspicious communication.  Should you run into a serious problem with one of these con-artists, please do not hesitate to contact the Grand Lodge Committee on Law Enforcement... they can help.

May your holidays be of good genuine cheer and remain safe.

With kind fraternal regards,

Rick Bateman, G.P.

Assistant Grand Secretary

Grand Lodge F & AM State of NY