This sounds very similar to the "pastor urgently needs gift cards" scam that makes its way through our parish once or twice every year. I don't think anyone has been caught by it in a number of years but I feel for those who've lost money to it elsewhere.
It sounds silly but there really should be an annual announcement at Mass and in the…
This sounds very similar to the "pastor urgently needs gift cards" scam that makes its way through our parish once or twice every year. I don't think anyone has been caught by it in a number of years but I feel for those who've lost money to it elsewhere.
It sounds silly but there really should be an annual announcement at Mass and in the bulletin reminding especially vulnerable folks how to avoid these things. And given the news lately, maybe an annual fraud-detection training for parish staff and volunteers!
Indeed, it's a variant of that, and I had the same thought: I wonder how many gift cards the scammed employee has bought for her pastor via email/SMS requests.
Just because of my work, I've gotten years of annual social engineering attack awareness training and I still get my "react NOW" button pressed occasionally so I can understand how someone not taught to look for those red flags could be taken in. But over 120 times?? Those fraudsters are now the Nigerian prince of scam artists.
Hi Bill N. This is Fr. <LastName> and I think that was a very good comment. I am in a meeting and I need you to buy me $500 in Apple gift cards. Could you buy them and send text me the number on the back? I will pay you back.
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I usually have fun and ask if I can get a full indulgence for it. Without hesitation the answer is yes. I'm just not sure how people can be better informed of the various fraud methodologies out there and how to spot them. Clearly, the message isn't being received by far too many.
I've taken to stringing these guys along for a couple of hours... I emphasize my eagerness to help but ask clarifying questions. Last year, once I felt I had strung the fraudster along long enough, I got an image of an Amazon gift card barcode from google, replaced the bar code with the phrase: "How do you sleep at night?" and sent it to the scammer.
Some of them aren’t doing it willingly. Myanmar is a hot bed of scammer farms and use human trafficking and slavery conditions (complete with electronic monitoring, shock collars, beatings for not meeting KPIs, withholding documents, and demanding debt repayment with pittance pay). Its highly networked with organised crime and corrupt governments.
Unfortunately, when it comes to scams, if you do something 12 hours a day, 360 days a year, for several years you get pretty good at it. Particularly, when they are able to hone in on a likely candidate.
This sounds very similar to the "pastor urgently needs gift cards" scam that makes its way through our parish once or twice every year. I don't think anyone has been caught by it in a number of years but I feel for those who've lost money to it elsewhere.
It sounds silly but there really should be an annual announcement at Mass and in the bulletin reminding especially vulnerable folks how to avoid these things. And given the news lately, maybe an annual fraud-detection training for parish staff and volunteers!
Indeed, it's a variant of that, and I had the same thought: I wonder how many gift cards the scammed employee has bought for her pastor via email/SMS requests.
Just because of my work, I've gotten years of annual social engineering attack awareness training and I still get my "react NOW" button pressed occasionally so I can understand how someone not taught to look for those red flags could be taken in. But over 120 times?? Those fraudsters are now the Nigerian prince of scam artists.
Hi Bill N. This is Fr. <LastName> and I think that was a very good comment. I am in a meeting and I need you to buy me $500 in Apple gift cards. Could you buy them and send text me the number on the back? I will pay you back.
--
I usually have fun and ask if I can get a full indulgence for it. Without hesitation the answer is yes. I'm just not sure how people can be better informed of the various fraud methodologies out there and how to spot them. Clearly, the message isn't being received by far too many.
I've taken to stringing these guys along for a couple of hours... I emphasize my eagerness to help but ask clarifying questions. Last year, once I felt I had strung the fraudster along long enough, I got an image of an Amazon gift card barcode from google, replaced the bar code with the phrase: "How do you sleep at night?" and sent it to the scammer.
Some of them aren’t doing it willingly. Myanmar is a hot bed of scammer farms and use human trafficking and slavery conditions (complete with electronic monitoring, shock collars, beatings for not meeting KPIs, withholding documents, and demanding debt repayment with pittance pay). Its highly networked with organised crime and corrupt governments.
Unfortunately, when it comes to scams, if you do something 12 hours a day, 360 days a year, for several years you get pretty good at it. Particularly, when they are able to hone in on a likely candidate.