ReportWire

Tag: phishing scam

  • New Scam Targets Church-Goers – KXL

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    Eugene, Ore. – Police in Eugene warn a new scam struck over the weekend, and may spread across the state. Eugene PD Community Engagement Specialist Janina Rager first found out about the scam Sunday, at church. “Our pastor announced that if anyone was getting text messages from him asking for money, it was a scam.” She says she then received other reports from officers, “Several other pastors were being victimized as well.”

    Rager says fraudsters pose as the pastor in a text or email, “Probably looking up all the pastors of various churches; probably more than just Eugene. I’m not sure at this point what the extent goes or how broad it is.” She says they’re targeting who they think will be sympathetic- big-hearted people who want to assist others, adding, “The text is usually urgent: ‘Hey, I need some help.’ In one of the cases, it was, ‘Hey could you handle this discreetly?’ Because they don’t like you talking to people.” In another incident, she says the scammers asked, “‘Could you go get some $100 gift cards so that we can buy things for some people that are having problems. But, I’m really busy. Could you just send me photos of the gift card numbers?’” Luckily, the intended victim realized the request for photos instead of the actual cards was not normal, and called police.

    The messages have the typical red flags: A sense of urgency, requests for privacy or discretion and excuses for why the victim should not show up in person or call directly. Rager says, “All in all, if you get anything from a pastor or anyone involved in your church requesting money, I would just call your church directly at a well-known number and ask, ‘is this [message] really the church?’ And you’re probably going to get the answer, ‘No, it’s not.’” You can also report it to the FBI.

    She says there have been no confirmed losses, but she worries victims may not yet realize the person they sent money or gift cards to wasn’t actually their pastor. 

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    Heather Roberts

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  • OR Officials Warn Of Building Permit Phishing Scam – KXL

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    The Oregon Building Codes Division and the Oregon Dept. of Consumer & Business Services are warning about a new phishing scam targeting people involved in construction projects.

    SALEM, OR – The Oregon Building Codes Division is cautioning you not to fall for a phishing scam targeting people waiting approval for a project from their local building or planning department.

    In this scam, someone claiming to be from the local building or planning department emails a person to get them to wire money. The scammers are using information about the person and the project to claim their application has been approved. The next steps in the scam are for the person to reply to the email to request payment advice and wire transfer instructions, pay the invoice using the wire transfer instructions, and then email a copy of the wire transfer receipt to the designated address. The scammers also state “all correspondence must be conducted by email to ensure transparency and accurate record-keeping for auditing purposes.”

    Courtesy Oregon Building Codes Division.

    “Your local building or planning department will not request that you send money to them via wire transfer,” said Alana Cox, administrator of the Building Codes Division, part of the Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services.

    The Building Codes Division recommends that people check to make sure the correspondence is from the correct person and jurisdiction.

    “Local building and planning departments are based in either your city or county. If someone claims to be from those departments, go to the official city or county website and find the contact information there,” Cox added. “Then, you can call or email them to check if what you received is legitimate.”

    To help you reach the right officials, the Oregon Building Codes Division has a list of local building departments at https://oregon.gov/bcd/jurisdictions.

    The  Oregon Department of Consumer and Business Services offers you the following tips to avoid a phishing scam:

    • Do not send money to anyone you have not met in person, and be cautious about sharing personal or financial information.
    • Do not transfer money to unknown people or intermediaries. Use only a licensed money transmitter if a third party needs to be involved.
    • Do not give out personal information by phone, email, or online. Government agencies and financial institutions, such as banks and credit unions, will not ask for this information.
    • Always be careful opening emails, clicking on links, or downloading files, regardless of the sender.
    • Always be suspicious of claims about lottery or sweepstakes winnings that require personal information to receive the reward.
    • Always ignore pop-ups requesting account information or offering to increase computer speed or to clean the computer.

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    Tim Lantz

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