Father John Ludden is a widely recognized priest in the Diocese and in the larger Catholic Community. Sometimes a detractor or another person wishing to take advantage of his status will pretend to be him in order to have you respond or to solicit the need for gift cards or other assistance. This is called “Spear Phishing” in tech speak, where someone would use direct and specific information about an individual to attack and steal financial or personal information. Please always check the email address of a message. Most of these attacks are originating from Gmail or other free email systems, where someone can pretend to be Father John until that account is shut down. Father John will only email a Parish Family member from his official (and secured) St. John email account. Please always be careful about email communications and if you question its validity, do not hesitate to pick up the phone and call our office.
