Yesterday it was brought to my attention that the parish-wide email scam has broadened in scope. Now, not only are people being contacted by someone pretending to be me, a parishioner received an email from a fake address pretending to be another member of our office staff. The email included a link and attachments. I can’t emphasize enough – don’t interact with the sender and don’t click on any link or open any attachment as it might allow the sender access to your device and it opens the possibility of downloading a virus that could compromise your personal data.
Although I have filed complaints with Google who operates Gmail and with the FBI’s internet crimes division, it is highly unlikely either entity will devote the time or resources to identifying the culprit and cutting it off at the source. It is up to us to be smart and vigilant in the face of this ongoing situation.
All of our parish office staff have email addresses that end in ‘@queenschurch.com‘ that is used to send work related communications. You really need to click through to see what email address is sending the message, not just the supposed name of the sender. If it is not @queenschurch.com, it is not from us.
In this particular case, it was the Director of Faith Formation and OCIA, Betsy Koval. The email was sent from <2135895@std.hu.edu.jo>. This shows to what great lengths the perpetrators will go in an effort to draw people in and make you think you’re really talking to someone from the parish about parish business, when for all we know they could be in a foreign country.
As for me, the only other address I connect with you online should be the one you see below, the group messaging service that sends out this weekly communication to the whole parish:
FROM FR. TIM <message@e.diocesan.com>
These fraudulent emails are coming from many fake addresses like:
priestp72@gmail.com
bluescabng@gmail.com
Don’t open the message or respond to it, and under no circumstances spend the money. Credit card companies will not reimburse you. The scammers are going to ask you to buy prepaid gift cards or credit cards, take photos of the numbers on the back and send those pictures to them.
Some people have received text messages asking for the same thing from a fake #: 507.250.8977. That is not my number. It is a Rochester, MN area code.
Text messages give you an option ‘report as junk’ and so do emails. If you click on the address, sometimes your email server allows you to report these contacts as junk, spam or phishing and to report it, and even to block the contact. You should do this to help create a digital trail that leads back to the culprits who are trying to cheat innocent people out of their hard earned money.
I have read some of the messages. The perpetrator is writing in very formal and flowery language, not the way I speak. They sign off saying ‘in Christ’s love,’ again, not a phrase I use. They often sign name as ‘Timothy’ which I don’t use unless signing a check or a formal letter.
If all else fails, please call the office to authenticate any request that seems out of the ordinary. Don’t spend the money and send what is requested before trying to verify it.
The only way to make this scam attack stop is for all of us to deprive them of success in their effort to enrich themselves under the false pretenses of pretending to be me or one of my staff asking you for help.
