Caller attempts to defraud a local parish

The Communications Department has been made aware of a recent attempt to perpetrate a phone scam against one of our parishes. The caller claims to be in South America and wants to make a donation. Instead of mailing a check, he asks for the parish’s banking information “… so that he can deposit the funds directly into their account.” The modus operandi of these type of bogus efforts is, ostensibly, to drain the parish bank account, most definitely not to make a charitable contribution. Parish staff should be aware of this particular technique to swindle church funds during the holiday season, and, for that matter, all year long. In the particular case brought to our attention, the caller identified himself as Vito Nuñez. The number traces to a landline in the Arlington, Virginia area, which, quite obviously, is nowhere near South America.