Some members have recently received email messages which appear to have been sent by NSC’s Commodore, David Neasmith. However, these are most definitely phishing emails, and certainly were not sent by David. They should be ignored. The most recent messages originated from commodoreoffice60@gmail.com, with a subject of “I need you to handle a request discreetly”.
One of the easiest ways to identify such scams is to check the email address from which it was sent. While the display name might be “David Neasmith”, or someone else you know, the email address is usually not theirs. NSC staff and volunteers with @nsc.ca addresses have been targeted before in similar scams. We are confident that our Bluebook and member data has not been compromised, but some email addresses are available on our website, including, for example, on our Classifieds page and Crew Bank. It is impossible to completely avoid such phishing messages, but a careful read of the message should indicate its nefarious objective.
The most recent messages read:
“Hello! Are you less busy at the moment? I got a request for you to manage discreetly. I will be going into a meeting in few minutes, no calls so kindly respond back via mail…”
David would never send such a message. For those curious enough to reply, the sender went on to ask the recipient to purchase six $100 gift cards that could be used as gifts for staff, with a promise that the recipient would be reimbursed. Just ignore such messages; no further action is required.
