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Thieves use emails to pose as priests to con Catholics out of hundreds of dollars

Local churches are warning their members about thieves posing as priests, trying to scam people out of hundreds of dollars.

Action News Jax spoke with a Jacksonville woman who said she was victimized when she thought she was helping a cancer patient.

“I think it takes away from all the good that (the Diocese of St. Augustine tries) to do for people,” Kathleen Bagg said.

As a diocese employee, Bagg said it’s normal for priests to email her with certain requests.

She said that, on July 28 at 4:30 a.m., she received an email asking for a favor.

“There was a request that came in to please send him three $100 iTunes cards for a cancer patient that he was working with, and that he wanted to provide them a birthday gift,” Bagg said. “So, could you do this right away?”

The writer of the email ended the message by quoting a Bible verse mentioning "glorious riches."

Bagg filled up the cards as she had been asked and gave the writer of the email the card numbers.

The person responded that the $300 wasn’t enough, and that they need her to double it. The writer closed that email with the word “blessings.”

Bagg said she talked to the real priest the following Monday.

“He confirmed it was a scam, so it was pretty upsetting,” Bagg said.

Bagg said the writer of the email added an extra number or letter to the email address and posed as a priest so she wouldn't notice.

Action News Jax found similar cases in other Florida cities, including Tampa.

Bagg sent a scam alert to parishioners, including a notice from Apple about iTunes cards and a link to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, or IC3.

“How likely is it to catch them?” Action News Jax asked FBI Special Agent Robert Schwinger.

“It’s becoming more likely,” Schwinger said.  “We are having great successes in these cases. Working with our foreign partners and with some of the technology we have, we are able to actually identify who’s sitting behind the computer.”