Scams continue to plague our communities – those of wedding officiants and others. The ploy that rears its ugly head again and again is where the scammer sends a check for an amount that is more than what is due, and then asks the target to cash it and pay the difference to a third party.
We certainly hope that our members aren’t falling for their tricks. We also recognize that their persistent efforts are annoying. While we cannot control what those with ill intentions will do, we can try to limit the bother that they create.
What to Do
First, report any suspect emails to help put a stop to the scam. JPus members who receive suspicious email through our contact form should report these to admin@JPus.org so we can block the scammer from sending messages through our system. If you receive the suspect email through another third-party contact form, you can report the email to them. In addition, you can report the email to your email provider. The Federal Trade Commission will also accept complaints.
Second, block those problematic emails from your own email server, so they are automatically directed to your spam folder. This WikiHow article explains how to do so for Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook and iCloud.
What Others are Doing
Fellow JPs talked about this problem in our members-only Facebook group. Most ignore the messages, but a few reply to the scammer.
- *Quoting a very high fee
- *Simply saying “not available”
- *A referral to another JP who happens to be a retired police chief
- *Request to chat about the details – they never call, she said
However you choose to deal with these malevolent nuisances, know that we are not alone. This article in The Hour newspaper from February 2019 speaks to the prevalence of this latest scam.