Skip to content

Safety

Important Reminders and Steps to Stay Safe

At Point of Pride, protecting your personal information and ensuring your security is a top priority. Unfortunately, scammers have targeted some of our members by impersonating our organization. To help you stay informed and secure, we’ve compiled important reminders and actionable steps to protect yourself.

1. We will never ask for sensitive information.

Point of Pride will never ask you for your banking information, account/routing numbers, PINs, photo IDs, or other extremely sensitive identity or financial details.

Point of Pride will never request your SSN via email. In the very rare event we require this information for tax purposes, it will only be requested via an official IRS Form W-9 and only after you’ve signed a financial aid recipient agreement with us. (To date, less than 1% of our 1,200+ financial aid recipients have needed to complete this form.)

2. We will never ask you to send us money—or send you a check to deposit.

Point of Pride will never require you to send money to us. In the event that your award package requires some financial responsibility on your part (which is common) you would pay it directly to your care provider, never to Point of Pride or an individual.

Likewise, Point of Pride will never send you a check, gift card, or payment and ask you to deposit it and send money elsewhere. If someone asks you to handle money in this way, it is a scam.

3. We do not perform or provide medical care directly.

Point of Pride does not employ or contract with surgeons, physicians, electrologists, nurses, or mental health professionals. We provide financial support by paying licensed, reputable service providers.

We do not perform surgeries, prescribe HRT, or offer any medical or mental health services ourselves.

4. Official communication only comes @pointofpride.org.

Emails: 

  • Official emails come only from addresses ending in @pointofpride.org.
  • We never contact you from Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, or other personal accounts.

Phone: 

  • If we need to call or text you, it will come from a number ending in 8172 or 1009.
  • We only do this if we can’t reach you by email, and if you’ve previously provided your phone number to us.

Meetings: 

  • All of our meetings are held over Google Meet (using an official @pointofpride.org email address to set up the meeting) or Zoom. 
  • We will never ask to meet with you over FaceTime, WeChat, WhatsApp, Skype, or Microsoft Teams.

Social Media: 

We will never reach out to you via social media about your award or application status. Our only official social media accounts are:

If anyone contacts you from a different account or claims to represent us but uses a different handle, it is a scam.

Other Apps/Tools: 

  • Sometimes we use trusted tools like DocuSign or Jotform to simplify your award process. All our forms will begin with “point-of-pride.jotform.com” in the website address.
  • We’ll never require you to download any unfamiliar third-party apps (e.g., WhatsApp, Signal, Telegram) to receive updates. 
  • HRT Access Fund recipients may need to use a verified medical communication platform if required by your care provider—but you’ll be guided by your provider directly.

If you ever have concerns about the legitimacy of a communication:

  • Let the person you’re speaking with know you are verifying their request.
  • Contact us directly using our secure contact form before sharing any personal information.

 


What To Do If You Believe You’ve Been Scammed

If you suspect that you’ve been targeted by a scammer impersonating Point of Pride, please follow these steps:

  1. Stop all communication: Do not respond to any further messages, emails, or phone calls.
  2. Report the scam. Flag the email or text message as junk/spam. Consider filing a report with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) at reportfraud.ftc.gov.
  3. Protect your info.
    • If you shared your SSN, visit identitytheft.gov for next steps, including placing a fraud alert on your credit file. You can lock your SSN using the Social Security Administration's Self Lock feature as well as freeze your credit reports with the major bureaus to prevent scammers from opening accounts in your name.
    • If you shared bank or credit card information, immediately contact your financial institution and consider freezing or replacing your account.
  4. Contact us. Let us know what happened. Your report helps us take action to stop scammers and protect others in our community.
  5. Monitor your accounts. Keep a close eye on your financial accounts and credit reports. Consider setting up fraud alerts or credit monitoring services for added peace of mind.

We deeply regret any harm or distress caused by scammers and remain committed to protecting our community—and with your help, we can stay informed, vigilant, and safe.

Last Updated: May 2025