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Recently, parish staff members, including deacons, throughout the diocese have been the target of unsolicited and fraudulent email communications seeming to come from the pastor. The scammers are often looking to gain access or obtain information that will compromise the pastor’s identity by impersonating the pastor. It is easy to create a Google account and assume the name/identity of another individual, which is what has been occurring to some pastors. If you receive one of these suspicious emails that appears to come from the pastor please contact the parish office.
Note that I will never send an email to you requesting that you send money directly. My official parish email is [email protected].
Detecting these impersonation scams comes down to awareness and communications. Here are some tips to remember:- Check the sender’s complete email address – often times just reading the whole email address will be obvious that it is fraudulent;
- Don’t trust unsolicited emails: don’t click on links or download attachments;
- Beware of urgent language: “To prevent further charges, click here and make your payment today!”; and
- Do not share personal information online – passwords, Social Security numbers, Credit Card details unless you know the vendor and it’s a secure site.
Fr. Joe Geleney
Pastor ([email protected])
Saint Mary Church of the Assumption
Waco, TX
