Scams are getting more personal and now local civic associations are being targeted. Paul King, president of the Belle Harbor Property Owners Association, recently let us know about a scam being sent to the civic’s members.
On Tuesday, King sent an e-mail to members and The Rockaway Times saying, “One of my Association’s vice presidents received the email below earlier today asking for urgent help to get a BHPOA bill paid immediately. The email was signed by me but as you can tell from the email address, it did not come from me.
I suspect this is a scam that is being sent to civic organizations and not-for-profits everywhere, hoping for a quick score.
A few years ago, senior citizens in our neighborhood were getting messages or calls from their ‘grandchildren’ who were in trouble and needed money right away. This seems like a fresh take on an old scam.
Please beware.”
The e-mail in question, signed by Paul King but sent to civic members from e-mail address, 1tp_9484hrcwir@dingtalk.com, said, “Are you available? Our treasurer is currently unavailable, and I am out of the office with limited phone connectivity. Could you assist with an urgent operating expense that needs to be paid immediately? Thank you in advance for your help. I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Thanks,
Paul King.”
King sent out an e-mail notifying the RT and members of the scam after a second member of the BHPOA’s leadership team received the same scam message.
Let this be a reminder to always verify where an e-mail is coming from when a request for money is made.
