A CARMARTHEN vicar has been targeted by internet identity thieves aiming to con his friends and congregation out of cash.
Fraudsters set up a fake email address after hacking into Canon Patrick Thomas's account.
They then used it to send people on his address list a message claiming he was stranded in Italy having lost his luggage and passport, and asking for money to help him get home.
Canon Thomas, of Christ Church in Lammas Street, is now urging people to be aware of such scams.
He said: "From what I gather from others there's quite a spate of email hacks and scams going on at the moment.
"In my case I was not in Italy, I haven't been there since 1970, nor was I stranded anywhere, but these fake emails were sent to everyone in my contact list."
The only clue that emails were fake was a slightly different spelling of his name.
He added: "I was contacted by many friends about the email and it looked quite genuine.
"It was all a trick to get people to part with their money by these scammers.
"Of course it was distressing to have my identity stolen like that but I had good advice from the police and Fraud Action helpline.
"My son works in IT so he helped too and I also contacted my email provider to let them know what had happened."
Canon Thomas quickly secured his email account before sending a message to friends and colleagues explaining what had happened.
He added: "Looking at the fake email address there were two letter 'i's in my name which was not right, but people could have easily believed it was a genuine message asking for help."
Following the attack on his emails, he is urging people to ensure their email accounts are safe and to not engage with any emails — even from someone they know — asking for cash to help them out of a situation such as the one used in the email.
"Having an email like that from someone you know, the first reaction is to help them but always look closely and question it."
