Another phishing scam warning

This email seems to have done the rounds of some St Philip parishioners over the weekend, pretending to come from Fr. Allen - please do NOT fall for this kind of thing:

>From: Allen Doerksen <rectorparish@gmail.com>
>Date: May 11, 2024 at 6:26:46 PM EDT
>To: 
>Subject: Quick Favor Needed - Response Appreciated

>Dear Dave,

>I hope this email reaches you well. Currently tied up in a meeting, I regret being unable to call. Could you kindly reply to this email at your >earliest convenience? Your prompt response would be highly appreciated.

>Best regards,

>Rev. Allen Doerksen

This email is NOT from Fr. Allen at all. Four things you can check right away are:

1) Sender's email address - check for the address <insideanglebrackets@ likethis.com>. There may be a name as well, e.g.
St Philip Oak Bay <admin@stphilipvictoria.ca>, but the email address is the important thing to check.

If they don't match, as in Allen Doerksen <rectorparish@gmail.com>

that's not a good sign. rectorparish@gmail.com is not Fr. Allen's email address. Anyone writing to you in a St Philip role should be using an email ending in @stphilipvictoria.ca. 

2) Actual URL (web address, format http://www.whatever.ca) of any links in the message - there are none in this one, but spam messages often contain links. Don't click on them, just move your mouse over the link to make the full address appear in a little popup box. If the linked text in the message is "St Philip Church" but e.g. http://www.whoopeecasino.ca appears when you move your mouse over it, it's not genuine.

3) Language style and nature of the request - does it fit with what you know of the supposed sender and the usual/correct way of doing things? This issue is supposed to be so urgent the sender has to email about it in the middle of a meeting, and yet can't leave or interrupt the meeting briefly to make a call? Not likely.

4) Lack of specific details - this time the message is totally generic, no indication of any particular issue at all.

If you receive this kind of email, or others you find in any way odd, please read critically, check the sender's email address carefully, and:
1) Don't reply.
2) Don't click on any links or images in the email.
3) Don't open any attachments.
4) Delete the email.
5) If you are concerned about missing a genuine request, call the supposed sender on the phone, or write them a new email from scratch, at an email address you already know is correct, instead of replying to the suspect email. Like the Wise Men, "depart by another way".

But if the email seems to come from a genuine address of someone you know, the address could have been hacked (broken into and used without authorization), so use the phone or a different way of getting in touch.

All that said, it is also worth occasionally checking your Junk or Spam email folder. Email filters are not perfect, and while they may let a phishing attempt like this into your Inbox, they do also sometimes send genuine emails straight to the Junk folder!

More about the many kinds of online scams, and how to spot and avoid them:

from McAfee Antivirus software

from the Canadian government


 Image by Tumisu from Pixabay