Spam Email and Texts

It has come to our attention that some parishioners received a spam email from someone using Fr. Aleks’ name and photo. 

However, it was not sent from Fr. Aleks, and the email is asking for some private help and for you to respond to the email.

Please do not respond or reply to any suspicious emails. 

If you are in doubt about the authenticity of anything using Fr. Aleks’ name, please phone the parish office.

IMPORTANT: If you have actually purchased something and turned over anything of value, please contact the Waterloo Regional Police Service so they can investigate.

What does the Spam Look Like?

The spam messages look like this:

Note: This message may have been flagged by your email provider as spam, as shown above.

Verify the Sender’s Email Address

Always verify the sender’s email address is one you trust – in this email application (Gmail on an Android phone), click the arrow beside to me and review the address:

Notice in this case the fraudulent address is “aleks.saintagnescatholicchurch@gmail.com”.

NOTE: All official correspondence from the office will be “office@saintagnescatholicchurch.org”.

A Second Request – Increasing the Urgency

When no reply received, you may get a second request, making the request appear to be even more urgent:

What Does a Reply Look Like?

If you happen to reply asking how you can help, the reply will indicate some sense of urgency, and will typically ask you to buy electronic gift cards with the promise of reimbursement.

It will also typically ask you not to drop them off in person (because that would highlight the fraud, as Judy or Fr. Aleks would not be expecting you to drop anything off).

Here’s a sample reply: