News from afpop - Friday 18th of August 2023

Good afternoon to you all and I hope you are enjoying the summer. This week I am away on holiday so my remarks are pre-written and perhaps more general than usual. However I feel I need to begin this with another chapter in the ‘glass starting fires’ issue, as several of you wrote to me after the last Member Briefing to say that in fact it is correct that broken bottles can be the cause of fires under the right circumstances, as it can act as a prism and concentrate the sun’s heat to a point. I remember many years ago setting fire to pieces of paper, (I should say at school and under supervision of course) but that was by using magnifiying glasses as the lens and we only ever really scorched the paper, but still the effect was the same, so when I was contacted and told that I was wrong, I assumed that it must be only certain lenses that can do it and that glass bottles aren’t the correct shape. Apparently I was wrong the second time and, as I had issued a correction I thought it’s right to issue another, particularly as some of you sent me links to articles highlighting that exact point with regard to a couple of fairly serious fires that had caused much damage.
 
Part of the reason for issuing this second correction, besides acknowledging the information sent by Members, is actually to apologise to you all and particularly to my team here in the afpop office. We do not send out information without confirming its veracity and the team and I spend a lot of time making sure that we have all the information available before we put any mailing, UPDATE article, Bulletin or Fact Sheet together and clearly I didn’t do that on this occasion, which I could easily have done before writing the original comment. The mailings have to be correct as far as they possibly can be and if I lead off with my comments by causing confusion, that can undermine the value of the excellent work that my colleagues do.
 
It won’t happen again and my apologies to the team for letting the side down there.
 
Finally from me, I wanted to include my sincere condolences to those Members who have been affected by the recent fires and suggest to all Members that they should look at the sums they have insured their properties when their policy renewal is next due.
 
Now I shall speed across to England to spend some time meeting our new Grandson and I shall leave you in the capable hands of my team, who will educate you with properly researched and completely correct information, as always;
 
Doctors strike
The Sindicato Independente dos Médicos, have announced that doctors in the public sector of the Mainland, Azores and Madeira will continue strikes in August and September. You will find the locations and dates here:
https://www.simedicos.pt/pt/noticias/5287/mapa-greves-verao-2023-em-curso-e-a-ocorrer (UPDATED)

Emergency Service will still be available.
The Union also announced that internal doctors (medical interns) have scheduled a national strike for the 23rd and 24th of this month. This new strike could affect consultations, hospitalisations, exams and surgeries. If you have anything scheduled for these days, please confirm with your specialist.
 
Fraudulent email from Finanças
The Tax and Customs Authority (AT) warns taxpayers who are receiving an email where it is mentioned in the subject line: Important Notice (“Aviso Importante”) informing that there are inaccuracies in the IRS declaration. These messages are fake and should be ignored. The objective as always is to scare the recipient into accessing malicious pages by clicking on 'links'.
 
PJ alerts for “Vishing”
Most people have heard of phishing; vishing is a different attack that falls under the general phishing umbrella and shares the same goals. Vishers use voice messaging, fraudulent phone numbers, voice-altering software, text messages, and social engineering to trick users into divulging sensitive information.
According to PJ – Polícia Judiciária, several citizens have received telephone calls, in which they are informed through a recording in the English language, that it is a contact from the Judiciary Police and/or EUROPOL. In this recording, the citizen is advised to select one of the options to establish a conversation with an “Inspector”.
By activating this option, you are then “informed” that your bank account is being used in a fraudulent scheme and you are advised to transfer the respective balance to secure accounts, in order to prevent the appropriation of the amount by criminals.
If you receive a contact of this type, do not provide your personal data or follow the instructions received.
PJ advise that you note the contact number used and immediately contact your local PJ or another police entity to report the situation.
 
Out of date medicines
A reminder that any out of date or unused medicines can be returned to a farmácia or Centro de Saúde. Don’t simply throw them into the bin to go to the landfill, but speak to your pharmacist when you next visit to confirm that they can receive unused medication.
 
Speed Radars
We already mentioned before the introduction of a new (for Portugal) type of speed radar on the Portuguese roads. Unlike fixed and mobile radars, the H42 speed cameras do not record the speed of vehicles at a given point, but instead calculate whether you travelled faster than legally allowed between two points on a given route. According to the new road safety campaign presented, Portuguese roads will have 37 new radars as of 1^st of September, 12 of which will monitor the average speed between two points.
 
Social Security App – new feature
If you are a user of the Segurança Social App + Próxima, Social Security (ISS) has announced a new feature that allows you to consult and change your direct debit for the payment of monthly contributions for workers with green receipts (i.e. self-employed).
Please see below a video (in Portuguese) that explains and shows the steps:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ElkFy-ThSW0
 
afpop/MEDAL Insurance golf tournament
A reminder for those who have already expressed their interest in playing in the tournament but not yet confirmed, to please contact the afpop office to confirm that they will be playing. The tournament is on Wednesday 13^th September at Penina, shotgun start at 08h45. More details can be obtained from the afpop office or in the August edition of UPDATE magazine, which will be with you shortly.
 
Satellite Offices
afpop staff will be on hand in the Satellite Offices again in September 2023. If you need advice or assistance, wish to introduce a new Member to the Association, need to renew your subscription or just have a general query, please pass by and see us. Please contact the afpop office to make an appointment on 282 458 509 or info@afpop.com    
 
The next dates of the Satellites are (please note the change in Lagos, from now on it will be on the last Wednesday of the month):