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Phone scammers prey on the faithful
Diocese warns Queens Catholics about con artists posing as bishop soliciting funds
in Rosedale.
An official diocesan
email was sent to church
pastors and administrators
making them aware of the
scam and the NYPD has
been notified and police
reports have been filed.
Reach reporter Bill
Parry by email at bparry@
schnepsmedia.com or by
phone at (718) 260–4538.
A DAY TO REMEMBER AND CELEBRATE
Forest Hills residents of all ages proudly participated in the community’s Memorial Day Parade
down Metropolitan Avenue on May 26. For more pictures from Memorial Day commemorations
across Queens, see Pages 13-15. Photo by Dean Moses
BY BILL PARRY
In this day and age,
not even Queens church
ladies are safe from
telephone scams.
The Diocese of
Brooklyn is warning that
parishioners and employees
of several Queens parishes
have been receiving text
messages from a scammer
posing as local pastors
and even Bishop Nicholas
DiMarzio and thousands
of dollars have been sent
by those who have fallen
victim.
Rockaway’s Annette
Clark, a catechist and
maker of rosary beads at
St. Rose of Lima, recently
received a text message.
“It says hi Annette, I
need you to do me a favor,
which is not unusual,”
Clark recalled.
The number had a 929
area code and said it was
from Father James Kuroly,
the Pastor of St. Rose of
Lima Church.
“That was from a
number that she did not
recognize but it had my
name on it asking for gift
cards for cancer patients,”
Kuroly said.
The text message
instructed Clark to
purchase $300 worth of gift
cards.
“And I need you to
scratch the back of the
cards to reveal the pin code
then take a snapshot of the
codes and have the picture
sent to me,” the message
read. “Let me know as
soon as it’s done so we can
discuss. Don’t forget to say
some prayers for him.”
Clark set off to fulfill
the Pastor’s request and
was one her way to the
Rite Aid in Rockaway Park
when it dawned on her that
she may have been targeted
by a scammer.
“I found something
strange and I’m looking
and I said ‘why is father
responding as Father
James A. Kuroly,” she
recalled. “He would never
text me like that.”
Clark saved her money
but others have not been
so lucky.
The Diocese of Brooklyn
has warned that other
Queens parishes have
been targeted including
St. Helen in Howard Beach,
Incarnation in Queens
Village, Our Lady of
Perpetual Help in South
Ozone Park, and St. Clare
Vol. 7 No. 22 48 total pages
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