Forged E-mail Victimizes Fox Valley Pastor

Father Quinn Mann, a Fox Valley (Appleton, Wisconsin) parish is the latest person hit with the e-mail scam, reports postcrescent on December 6, 2011.

The hacking of the Gmail account facilitated the online crooks to send e-mail posing urgency of the victimized in abroad, i.e. Spain. The hackers masquerading Mann reported of being robbed on his way back to the hotel and in need of urgent help from his friends.

A sum of $3,500 as an assistance has been sought out by the victimized for the settlement of the threat.

However, according to the Church's Business Manager, Chuck Agnew, the content in the statement were set in a very weak language, which only triggers suspicion, as reported in postcrescent on December 6, 2011. The entrapped message were easy recognizable.

It was further revealed that the fake message was circulated during the time when Father Mann was in a trip to Wisconsin for an assignment, though he is presently not in abroad any more.

According to Police officials, the use of personal information in hacking is gaining rapid momentum and it is quite tough for the officials to arrest the techno-savvy hackers.

Sergeant Pat DeWall, Appleton Police Department revealed their helplessness, as reported in a statement published in wbay on December 6, 2011. The Police officials are affirmative about the Federal Bureau of Investigation and are optimistic that they would ultimately make a move out of the scrupulous event.

Though no monetary harm has occurred due to this event the church still continues to take calls from the parishioners.

Nonetheless, this type of fraud is prevalent and as revealed in a similar attempt held in September 2011, an unknown scammer hacked into the Yahoo account of Father Andy Pavlak, pastor of San Miguel Church and Mission (New Mexico). Similar news regarding theft had been revealed earlier as well and innocent people were being targeted alike.

Conclusively, the security expert recommends netizens to remain more vigilant while receiving e-mails and rather verify the sender by other means if the sender is requesting for money. People should be more alert while sending money and should not naively response in impulse.

Related article: FIRST Reveals Staggering Rise in Computer Hacking in China

» SPAMfighter News - 12/14/2011