A powerful earthquake shook central Mexico on Tuesday, collapsing buildings in plumes of dust and killing at least 226 people. Thousands fled into the streets in panic, and many stayed to help rescue those trapped.

Dozens of buildings tumbled into mounds of rubble or were severely damaged in densely populated parts of Mexico City and nearby states. Mayor Miguel Angel Mancera said buildings fell at 44 places in the capital alone as high-rises across the city swayed sickeningly.

Hours after the magnitude 7.1 quake, rescue workers were still clawing through the wreckage of a primary school that partly collapsed in the city’s south looking for any children who might be trapped. Some relatives said they had received Whatsapp message from two girls inside.

People who might be looking for their relatives, to let them know, they have to call  LOCATEL 01152  5658 1111. As for donations,  the best way from the US is donating online to Mexican Red Cross  https://cruzrojadonaciones.org/.

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I hope you have heard about the Equifax hack and have taken steps to secure your data after the breach. Many have placed a temporary freeze on their credit, and others are subscribing to credit monitoring tools. However, even if you are taking all the steps, you could still become a victim.

Now that scammers have your data, they can use the information to trick you into agreements, or even to get more data from you.

Be wary of any emails that appear to come from your bank, credit card company, or other financial institution. Scammers will use your personal information to make the information seem legitimate, and ask you for more info.

Don’t download or open attachments from emails unless you are positive the email comes from a trusted source or person. When in doubt, call the sender of the email and confirm they sent the email.

If an email asks you to use a link to log into your account, don’t click the link. The link could be a phishing scam trying to get your login credentials. Call your financial institution and confirm the email comes from them.

Remember, just opening a suspicious email can put you at risk. Scammers can place “pixels” in an email that embeds a tracking cookie in your browser. If you accidentally open a suspicious email, clear your cache and cookies to remove any unauthorized tracking pixels.

Immigration

Let us know if someone calls you posing as a USCIS officer or another government officer and asks for your personal information (such as Social Security number, passport number or alien number). Someone calls to tells you that you have problems with your immigration records and asks for payment to fix your records.

Some one calls to tell you you have an immigration fine and you need to pay this over the phone or via a web page. USCIS representatives will never call you to ask for personal information, fees or fines.

I received the general information from BenGlassLaw, a group I subscribe to, and added the information from previous USCIS alerts.

We have had problems with people trying to scam our clients and others in the community in the past. Please use this information to keep from getting scammed.

Call or email me if you have any questions.

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