ATHABASCA – Residents in the region and across the country are asked to be extra vigilant when dealing with surprise phone calls or emails requesting money or personal information, as scammers are now targeting church-goers and those hoping to avoid COVID-19.
The latest scam surrounding the pandemic is a phone call disguised as a tracking call, telling the person that answers they have either come into contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19 or tested positive themselves and in order to verify they need to pay $50 to have a testing kit shipped to them.
“(Alberta Health Services) is aware of a phone scam targeting Albertans – a small number of people alerted us to calls they had received from someone claiming to be from AHS. The caller then told the person that they had tested positive for COVID-19, and requested the person’s personal healthcare number, ID and credit card information,” said an AHS spokesperson.
“This was clearly a scam, which is extremely disappointing considering the situation we are all currently experiencing. To be clear – AHS will never call and ask for credit card information. If you receive one of these calls, please hang up immediately and report by calling the non-emergency line for local law enforcement.”
The other scam targets the good faith of religious organizations by spoofing someone connected with a church, either the faith leader or a parishioner, who claims to need money, said Bill Doyle, the minister at the Spruce Grove United Church, in an email to the Athabasca United Church.
“I have received a number of concerning reports of fake emails being received across the church that look as though they are from United Church congregational ministers, and staff of the wider church. Rather than coming from the people who appear to have sent them, they are fake messages carrying a simple, yet sophisticated scam. The messages impersonate the minister, sometimes doing enough research to mimic their personality or writing style,” Doyle said.
While the content of the scam messages is varied, it always includes a personal request for help. The message asks the reader to purchase gift cards, take photos of the cards showing the information they would need to use them, and send the images back to the impersonator.
“This scam preys on our desire as church people to be helpful and helping out where we can. Several people have fallen prey to this, and one victim reported that ‘they felt honoured to be asked to help’,” said Doyle.
Doyle recounted in an interview that in 2003 he had just moved to Vancouver when someone contacted the church he had only attended once since moving and convinced the minister to send $1,500 to San Francisco.
“These things happen all the time within the church community. Church communities are supposed to be full of caring people. My name was used 2003; I just moved to Vancouver and I didn't think anybody even knew I was there. And I’m aware personally of situations where people were (scammed) out of money in Winnipeg as well,” he said.
Doyle warned not to click on any links or open any attachments in an email you may consider fake. Do not reply and delete the email, he stressed.
“Please know that ministers and staff will not email you to ask for help (financial, emotional, etc.), and will not ask you to keep correspondence a secret or ask you not to contact them by phone,” said Doyle.
If you feel the email may be a legitimate message Doyle said to hover your cursor over the ‘From’ name to reveal the email address that the sender has used. If the details appear different from the usual email address, he said to call the minister or staff person who is supposedly sending the email, or compose a new email – not a reply – using their trusted email address, to verify the information.
Heather Stocking, TownandCountryToday.com
Follow me on Twitter @HLSox
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