See update below from 2024 Oct. 17
Don’t believe everything you read on the internet.
-Abraham Lincoln
“Only the paranoid survive,” while being a favorite general maxim of the editor, is also a good adage to remember when it comes to cybersecurity.
As a reminder, if you receive any strange comms from anyone claiming to be connected with the parish, then beware! On occasion, parishioner contact names and info are published — when solicited by the parishioner! — via our comms channels (for example, if a volunteer instructs us to share their contact info with respect to an initiative at the parish, like they are coordinating rummage sales items or festival activities) and ne’er-do-wells can take that info for fraudulent and nefarious purposes.
If you receive suspect messages, the following is recommended
•Don’t reply!
•Do forward a copy of these messages to the parish office (submissions@onestrongfamily.org)!
•Confirm authenticity of suspicious messages by inquiring with the supposed-sender via a more secure channel!
•Know that St. Mark staff will not ever contact you with emergency or urgent messages asking you for money, gift cards, etc.
•You’re encouraged to report such spam/junk via the various official channels (phone service providers, your email’s report option, FTC, etc).
Practice good cybersecurity, folks!
Be shrewd with clicking on links, even if the supposed full url is shown, like https://www.onestrongfamily.org!
Many browsers show you the true destination of a link if you hover over them!
Update from 2024 Oct 17:
This is particularly for those who are associated with a Google Group with the Church of St. Mark. Please note that occasionally Google Groups, or owners thereof, that the Church uses may be the targets of phishing attacks. However, if you receive an email from a Church of St. Mark Google Group (@onestrongfamily.org), note that reporting that as phishing from your individual user inbox does not report the attacker, but, rather the Church! So don't do that!
If you receive such a message, it ought be reported as phishing from the Google Group itself. If it's not from the Google Group, then you can report it as phishing as you may normally do from your Google client!
Measures are being taken to curtail the impact and frequency of these attacks, but the most critical defense will always be vigilance!
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