Beaver County Catholics warned to double-check their inbox as emails aren't from priests
A Beaver County Catholic parish is dealing with spam emails impersonating members of its clergy, according to a Facebook announcement.
Mary, Queen of Saints Catholic Parish, which has churches in Aliquippa, Center, Hopewell and Monaca was made aware of the emails, specifically impersonating its priests, the Revs. John Gizler, Celestine Xu and Gilbert Heater.
The Facebook post included a screenshot of an example email that impersonated Gizler.
Parishioners should always check to see if the email address matches up with the church’s addresses, which include an ending of @maryqueenofsaints.org, the post said.
The spam emails have often been requesting gift cards and money, asking for a favor and asking for a reply back.
“When you see an email like this … please dispose of it. DO NOT REPLY, and do not give out personal information like bank account numbers, cell phone numbers, etc,” the post said.
Anyone with questions regarding the validity of an email should reach out to Rachael Palmer, MQS Director of Communications, by email at rpalmer@maryqueenofsaints.org, the parish said.
Megan Swift is a TribLive reporter covering trending news in Western Pennsylvania. A Murrysville native, she joined the Trib full time in 2023 after serving as editor-in-chief of The Daily Collegian at Penn State. She previously worked as a Jim Borden Scholarship intern at the Trib for three summers. She can be reached at mswift@triblive.com.
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