An Irish priest is warning the public of an email scam doing the rounds in his name in what gardai described as one of the most “sinister” scams they have seen.
People have been receiving emails which appear to be from Fr Roy Donovan requesting money to be sent to Africa to “help with sick children”.
The scammers are requesting a bank transfer of hundreds of euro.
Fr Donovan, from Limerick, said that vulnerable people were being targeted for the second time with the first time it occurred being in the New Year.
“I think they were looking for well over €700 to be sent to a bank account,” Fr Donovan said.
“I became aware of it straight away because I couldn’t get into my account. Then somebody rang me saying they got an email saying I was in Africa,” said Fr Donovan, who has contacted Microsoft about the issue.
“It is a very nasty one because they have so much that sounds right – it sounds so good. They have everything, they have all my details from my emails,” said Fr Donovan, who has since opened a new email account.”
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