New Kent churches targeted by email scam, fraudsters impersonating pastors
NEW KENT COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- Churches in New Kent County are being targeted by scammers who are impersonating pastors in an attempt to get money from their respective congregations. "Phishing" is a type of fraud where a scammer sends emails that look like they're from a legitimate source, trying to trick the person who receives them into thinking they are the real deal. They do this to obtain either money or personal, financial information. On Monday, Jan. 27, the New Kent County Sheriff's Office posted a scam alert, warning that such a phishing email scam is currently circulating through area churches. According to authorities, these scammers are posing as pastors and sending such emails to the members of their congregations via the churches' email lists. Bar fight over a woman escalates to gunfire, 5 people shot, 1 fighting for his life These phishing emails share many common traits, such as: An email address that's only slightly different from the actual pastor's email address A subject line reading "URGENT" or something similar, in addition to the body of the email demanding you act quickly or something bad would happen Received at a strange hour, like 3 a.m. Static writing style that's unlike the actual pastor, in addition to spelling errors Contains a link that the recipient is asked to click Mentions money, bank accounts Mentions the recipient winning a prize and they just have to pay the taxes Requests money or gift cards from the recipient "If you receive one of these emails, do not open any attachments or click any links," the sheriff's office said. "Also, do not respond to any email that requests personal or financial information." When you receive an email like this, it's best practice to stop and really examine it and its contents. Look closely at the email address -- is it actually the email address the person the sender is claiming to be normally uses? If not, it could be a phishing attempt. You can report phishing emails by forwarding them to your email provider, reporting them online to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or calling the FTC's identity theft hotline at 1-877-438-4338.
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NEW KENT COUNTY, Va. (WRIC) -- Churches in New Kent County are being targeted by scammers who are impersonating pastors in an attempt to get money from their respective congregations.
"Phishing" is a type of fraud where a scammer sends emails that look like they're from a legitimate source, trying to trick the person who receives them into thinking they are the real deal. They do this to obtain either money or personal, financial information.
On Monday, Jan. 27, the New Kent County Sheriff's Office posted a scam alert, warning that such a phishing email scam is currently circulating through area churches.
According to authorities, these scammers are posing as pastors and sending such emails to the members of their congregations via the churches' email lists.
Bar fight over a woman escalates to gunfire, 5 people shot, 1 fighting for his life
These phishing emails share many common traits, such as:
- An email address that's only slightly different from the actual pastor's email address
- A subject line reading "URGENT" or something similar, in addition to the body of the email demanding you act quickly or something bad would happen
- Received at a strange hour, like 3 a.m.
- Static writing style that's unlike the actual pastor, in addition to spelling errors
- Contains a link that the recipient is asked to click
- Mentions money, bank accounts
- Mentions the recipient winning a prize and they just have to pay the taxes
- Requests money or gift cards from the recipient
"If you receive one of these emails, do not open any attachments or click any links," the sheriff's office said. "Also, do not respond to any email that requests personal or financial information."
When you receive an email like this, it's best practice to stop and really examine it and its contents. Look closely at the email address -- is it actually the email address the person the sender is claiming to be normally uses? If not, it could be a phishing attempt.
You can report phishing emails by forwarding them to your email provider, reporting them online to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or calling the FTC's identity theft hotline at 1-877-438-4338.
