And so it begins¹

Once again we are seeing an increase in phishing attempts, this time the criminals are pretending to be Bishop Bruce. Please note that none of the diocesan staff will contact you asking for funds or gift cards. Please be vigilant for emails and texts purporting to come from the bishop or any other clergy.

These fraudulent emails and messages are normally fairly easy to spot as they come from odd, unlikely email addresses that do not match the name of the supposed sender. The messages are often badly spelled, have obvious grammatical errors, and incorrect signatures.

These emails are not the only thing to look out for. There has also been a marked increase in phony emailed invoices and payment notifications. Never open the documents that are sent with such emails, and don’t follow any links. If you do, you stand a good chance of your device becoming infected with malware of one kind or another.

let’s be careful out there.

Sergeant Phil Esterhaus, Hill Street Blues

Bishop Bruce

Bishop Bruce will only be sending emails from the following accounts:

• bishop.provisional@diowestmo.org
• bishop.bruce@diowestmo.org

If you are unsure if a message is from Bishop Bruce, the best way to check if it is a genuine message is by contacting Emily Davenport — bishopsassistant@diowestmo.org.

Gary Allman was the Communications Director with The Diocese of West Missouri from March 2014 through June 2023.

¹King Théoden, Lord of the Rings, The Two Towers.