Phishing Reminder
Dear friends and members of St. Matt's,
As we move toward this important part of the year, I might have imagined writing to you about something else. And, this is an important reminder, too.
On Wednesday, on our weekly call with our Bishops, there was a lengthy conversation about phishing. (Phishing: the fraudulent practice of sending emails purporting to be from reputable companies or individuals in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers.) Not only is it common practice now for people to impersonate the Bishops, members of Diocesan staff, and clergy (like me or Don!), these folks are becoming more and more creative. All over the diocese, people have been writing impersonating Wardens and other lay leaders asking for access to parish directories. Access to our directories would, of course, give them a completely new audience of people to approach for gifts and private information.
So, a few important reminders:
First, the staff and I will always (and only) email you from our St. Matthew's email addresses. Check the address to make sure it's coming from @stmatthewswilton.org.
Checking the address is always a good way to tell if something is real or not. If you receive an email, claiming to be from a Warden, for example, look and see if it's their normal address. If it's not, chances are something is wrong. Checking email addresses is your first line of defense.
If it is the right address, but it still doesn't seem right, reach out to the person a different way. If it doesn't seem right to you, it probably isn't.
The staff, lay leaders, and I will not ask you for gifts, favors, money, or private information. Again, if it seems out of place - it probably is. Any collection of goods or gift cards we might have for mission will come through our enews - like this one - not just from one individual to you. You'll see it on our website and social media.
Please don't share private information about yourself or anyone else over the internet. Please don't give anyone else access to our directory or to someone else's contact information. We want to protect each other from all of this! And there have been some instances in ECCT where phishing like this has been successful.
If you have any questions, please feel free to be in touch with me. Know that this is a widespread problem in the diocese. And the best thing you can do is scrutinize any requests that come to you over email unless it's very clear it's come from St. Matt's (like this email you're reading now).
I hope you're all enjoying this wonderful change in the weather! Please take a careful look through this enews so you have a sense of what's coming up next.
Faithfully,
--Marissa +
Tags: Welcome from the Rector