Beware of Email Scams!

An important message from Rev. Barbara:

Recently, members of UU Glens Falls received an email claiming to be from me (Rev. Barbara), stating that there was some vague emergency and asking recipients to purchase store cards to send to me with a promise that I would repay you. THIS IS A SCAM!! Over the years, it has happened with all three of our churches, and it’s happened to many, many other churches too. Some unknown person creates an email account using words like ‘minister’, or ‘pastor’, or ‘rev’, and somehow obtains a church’s email list. Then they send an email from the created email to congregants, hoping they’ll think it’s from their minister and want to be helpful – but it’s a scam, a very common one. Whoever sets up that account keeps the money, and there’s no repayment.

So please be aware: I WILL NEVER SEND EMAILS ASKING YOU TO PURCHASE STORE CARDS, or send Western Union funds, or any such thing. My only email account is my regular ‘brthreet’ email: anything that arrives with an email address of ‘revbarbara’ or pastorbarbara’ or ‘UUminister’ any such thing is not from me, but is a scam. Anything that says there’s an emergency that I can’t explain right now but that I need your financial help is a scam. Do not respond in any way – responses just encourage the scammer to continue. And don’t fall for it: your money will simply be gone. Also, please do not give or share your church’s email list or Directory to anyone who isn’t affiliated with your church. If the scammer doesn’t have a church’s email list, it’s a lot harder for them to pass themselves off as that congregation’s minister. Such scams seem to increase in the summer, and also around the holidays. Don’t fall for them: there are plenty of ways to be genuinely helpful in our world, but sending money to scammers isn’t one of them.          

Rev. Barbara