Dear St. Paul’s by the Sea Family,
Unfortunately we have been receiving reports today that someone is impersonating the Rector and sending phony emails to members of our community asking to be contacted by email only. Most likely they are looking to scam you for a money transfer or gift cards. It may look like it comes from Fr. Hailey, but the email address or phone number used will not be the one you know. No one from St. Paul’s by the Sea will ask you for gift cards or similar items (for themselves or for others) via email or text – EVER. Please don’t respond these messages!
Nobody’s email or phone has been “hacked”. Phishing and whaling scams are when someone creates a NEW email or profile to impersonate a real person. Mark these phishing or whaling scam email addresses as spam, block and report them to your provider. Any phone numbers should be blocked as well.
Below are some of the warning signs that an email may be a scam:
Generic greetings and/or generic signature line
Only want to communicate through email
Urgent or threatening language
Unsolicited requests for personal information
Discrepancies between the email address and “from” name
Odd or vague requests for help
Misspellings, obvious typos, and grammatical errors
Suspicious links and attachments (do not click on suspicious links and do not download files or attachments from unknown sources)
Please stay safe! If you ever have a question about whether an email is actually from Fr. Hailey or anyone from St. Paul’s by the Sea, Please Call the Church Office.
