Here’s the latest e-mail SCAM that made the rounds this week. I received one like the one below and an identical one from RICHARD T. GARRETT <info34890@gmail.com> (timestamped Thu 9/25/2025 7:26).
The first clue you’re looking at a SCAM is the email address <info34890@gmail.com> Pastor Vicki’s email address is printed on our website in the staff section and in our weekly worship bulletin.
The second clue is the direction to “kindly respond to this email only.” This enables the Scammer to isolate you.
If you do reply to the fake email (please don’t), you’ll get sketchy instructions about delivering money – typically in the form of gift cards (Clue #3), which neither our Pastor nor any staff member will ever ask you to do (Clue #4).
The grammatical errors: the silly line break between “calls;” and “therefore” and the missing space between “therefore,” and “kindly” are often a Bonus Clue.
Here’s what the fake email looks like (unfortunately, it did not originally have the helpful “Bogus” watermark):
This is an example of an Imposter Scam, the most prevalent scam in the United States in 2024, according to a Federal Trade Commission March 2025 report: Consumer Sentinel Network Databook 2024. I found a great article on the Charles Schwab website: 3 Impostor Scams and How to Avoid Them which reminds us to trust our gut when deciding if one of these suspect phone calls, texts, or emails is a scam.
Want to learn more about protecting yourself from online scams? Consider joining the group Digital Hygiene: Protecting Your Digital Well Being at 7:00 Thursday evenings on Zoom from Oct. 9 through Nov.13.