Peace be with you all.
Sadly, I lost £1500.00 to a clever scam, every place of worship is vulnerable.
I received an email from our minister which said, Do you have some spare time, I am just going to a meeting, can you email me back please. Because it was only a request for my time, I did not look too closely at the email. Because I often volunteer, I replied, yes, what can I do.
He said he wants to surprise some staff and volunteers with a £100 Amazon voucher, could I get them because his is short of time, and he will pay me back at church. We had just had a service the Sunday before to thank volunteers for their time, I thought this was linked together. They had my name, phone number, email address, they had the priests name and his phone number. I now know they used a false email address for the priest, but I thought it might have been his private email.
Could I then send a photo of the Amazon codes to him, so he could email them to the volunteers. I thought because I still had the vouchers, that this was okay. I now realize what an idiot I have been.
This is how the scam works, it is so simple. All you do is a google search for a town and church, then all their websites can be seen from anywhere in the world. This would be exactly the same for any mosques. Our website has four years of newsletter with names, phone numbers and email addresses. It details all kinds of activities within our church, including our service for volunteers.
If you are a clever and creative scammer, you can read these websites and come up with a convincing story. Scammers will know that places of worship are full of volunteers and kind people.
I know there are kind and caring people on this forum, but this is not an appeal to get any money back. I hope this story may help protect someone from a scam.
May Allah bless you all on your journey through life.
Eric
Sadly, I lost £1500.00 to a clever scam, every place of worship is vulnerable.
I received an email from our minister which said, Do you have some spare time, I am just going to a meeting, can you email me back please. Because it was only a request for my time, I did not look too closely at the email. Because I often volunteer, I replied, yes, what can I do.
He said he wants to surprise some staff and volunteers with a £100 Amazon voucher, could I get them because his is short of time, and he will pay me back at church. We had just had a service the Sunday before to thank volunteers for their time, I thought this was linked together. They had my name, phone number, email address, they had the priests name and his phone number. I now know they used a false email address for the priest, but I thought it might have been his private email.
Could I then send a photo of the Amazon codes to him, so he could email them to the volunteers. I thought because I still had the vouchers, that this was okay. I now realize what an idiot I have been.
This is how the scam works, it is so simple. All you do is a google search for a town and church, then all their websites can be seen from anywhere in the world. This would be exactly the same for any mosques. Our website has four years of newsletter with names, phone numbers and email addresses. It details all kinds of activities within our church, including our service for volunteers.
If you are a clever and creative scammer, you can read these websites and come up with a convincing story. Scammers will know that places of worship are full of volunteers and kind people.
I know there are kind and caring people on this forum, but this is not an appeal to get any money back. I hope this story may help protect someone from a scam.
May Allah bless you all on your journey through life.
Eric
