It has recently come to Sons of Norway’s attention that some of our members have received suspicious emails that at first glance appear to be from Sons of Norway, but are not.
Emails from headquarters or individual staff follow a consistent format. Please be sure to carefully read the sender’s email address, and if it doesn’t legitimately look like it comes from Sons of Norway, don’t open it and delete it immediately.
Also good to know: Spam emails often include typos. Never open or download attachments unless you know what they are. Never supply personal information in a reply email. Install reliable anti-spam software. Don’t use the same password for multiple accounts.
Remember to err on the side of caution to ensure the integrity of your email accounts and computer systems.
In addition to the email that look like they come from Headquarters, this email was just received by one of our members:
From: Vikingland Lodge
Date: May 8, 2019 at 6:00:20 PM PDT
To:[email protected]
Subject: REQUEST
Reply-To: Vikingland Lodge
Hello T……..,
Are you available? I need your assistance? I’m out of State, I need you to kindly handle this for SONS OF NORWAY needs some gift voucher for donation to Veterans at Hospice Care and welfare with patients and units across the community.
Vikingland Lodge
SONS OF NORWAY
President
This one is rather crude and easy to spot as a scam. Some are more sophisticated. The scammer may get the full name of the lodge president and treasurer from a public source, like your website. The email may seem to come from the president and addressed to the treasurer by name, but they usually have some of these charistics:
1. May contain bad grammar and spelling, but they are getting better
2. Will ask you to send gift cards or money orders, no way to get this money back
3. Often states that the requester is out of town, they don’t want you to call
4. It is not the normal way that a president or other lodge member requests funds from the treasurer
If you have any doubts about a request, CALL the requester using a phone number that you know is correct.
It’s a big, bad world out there, stay safe.
Regards,
Bruce Fihe
District Six VP and webmaster