A central Kentucky church congregation was the target of an attempted scam this week. Several attendees of Versailles Presbyterian Church received emails that seemed to come from interim Pastor Katherine Redmond asking for gift cards for three patients “on” hospice. Heather Clary is the community and media relations coordinator for the Better Business Bureau serving Greater Kentucky and Southcentral Indiana.
“Definitely a scam, and a particularly heinous one, because it targets people who are trying to do the right Christian thing and help somebody in need. And the scammers know this, which is why they've chosen to target a church congregation.”
The following day, church attendees received an email from the real Redmond informing them of the scam and asking them to block the email address of the scammer. Clary had this advice:
“If you ever receive some kind of a request asking for, you know, emergency assistance, especially if it involves gift cards, you should think twice. Gift cards are a favorite of scam artists because they're not recoverable.”
Redmond said she doesn’t know of anyone who fell for the scam.
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