Community Corner

Bishop of The Anglican Church of The South Has Account Hacked, Used For A Scam

The Gmail account of the Rt. Rev. Foley Beach, pastor of the Holy Cross Anglican Church in Loganville and head of the Anglican Church of the South, was hacked and emails sent out to his thousands of contacts requesting money in his name.

In October last year, the Rt. Rev. Foley Beach was consecrated as the first Bishop of the Anglican Diocese of the South in front of nearly 800 people, including Archbishop Robert Duncan of the Anglican Church of North America.

Thursday night his Gmail account was hacked and his name used to try and scam thousands of people out of their money.

“The first time I heard about it was 7:30 a.m. (Friday) morning when my phone started ringing off the hook with people phoning to let me know I’d been hacked,” Beach said, adding unfortunately some of the calls were from people checking that he was actually okay.

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The scammers used Beach’s Gmail account to send out an email from him claiming to have been mugged while in London. It claimed he had been held up at gun point and all his belongings – cash, cell phone and credit cards – stolen. The email gives a supposed hotel desk phone number in London and a request to send money to help him fly back home because his bank can’t get him the money for two to four working days. Foley’s assistant said the unfortunate thing is it wouldn’t be out the realm of possibility for Beach to be in London since his position in the church requires him to travel extensively. The email correctly lists his church rectory as  in Loganville and many people who received the scam letter were Loganville residents, including Walton County Commissioner Chuck Bagley. It is not known whether only contacts in his email were victims of the scam attempt or others as well.

Beach said he’s had to change all his bank accounts and credit cards and close down his Facebook account because the scammers also gained control of that through his Gmail account. He's been told it's likely he's lost the thousands of contacts he had too.

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“Another thing I would like people to know is how this all got started,” Beach said. “(Thursday) night when I was still working late I received what looked like a very official email from Gmail saying there had been a security breach and I needed to click on a button to verify my account or it would be disabled. It looked official so I just clicked on that button. Apparently by doing that I gave them complete access to my information.”

Beach said he has a friend who was the victim of a similar scam who told him that authorities in London won’t do anything about it. Local law enforcement officials have said this type of scam is so widespread.

“I’ve had one that actually claimed to have come from the director of the DEA,” said . “The thing to remember is don’t ever send any money and when you get anything by email just hit the delete button.”

Chapman said there are similar type scams over the phone and seniors are the No. 1 target having grown up in a more trusting time.

“We’ve had one couple recently scammed out of $10,000,” Chapman said.

Beach said he hopes none of his friends were taken in by the scam and that getting the word out about what and how it happened to him would warn others to be wary. For the perpetrators of the scam, his wish is a little more biblical.

“My prayer for those folks is simply that they reap what they sow,” he said.


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