Spotting fake "from a district leader" emails

Scammers routinely target volunteer organizations like ours. The most common trick is name spoofing: they look up a leader's name on any public website, then send email from a throwaway address with that real name pasted on it. It looks like this in your inbox:

District Director <[email protected]>

The name is real. The address is not. Email systems cannot prevent this — anyone can type any name into a free email account. Your eyes are the defense, and one habit defeats this trick every single time.

The one rule: check the address, not the name

Official district business comes from addresses ending in @district84.org. When any email asks you to do something — especially anything involving money, urgency, or secrecy — look at the actual address it came from, not the display name. On a phone, tap the sender's name to reveal the address; phones hide it by default, which is exactly what scammers count on.

What district leaders will never ask by email

• Buy gift cards — for any reason, ever. This is the #1 scam ask.
• Wire money, send payment, or change banking details.
• Share your password or a login code.
• "Keep this between us" or "I'm in a meeting, just handle it quietly."

Watch for the opener, too: a short, vague message like "Are you available? I need a quick favor today" with no details. That blandness is deliberate — the scam starts only after you reply.

How to verify a suspicious email

1. Check the address against the real one. Sign in and open the Leadership page — every officer's official district address is listed there.
2. Verify out-of-band. Call or text the person at a number you already have, or email them at their known-good address. Don't reply to the suspicious message to ask "is this you?" — the scammer will say yes.

If you get one

1. Don't reply. Not even to tell them off — a reply confirms your address is live.
2. Report it, don't just delete it. Use "Report phishing" in Gmail (⋮ menu), Yahoo, or Outlook. This trains the filters and helps get the scam account shut down for everyone.
3. Tell the webmaster at [email protected] so the district can warn others if a campaign is underway.

If you already replied

Stop responding — that's all the scammer had of you. If you sent money or gift card numbers, contact your bank or the card issuer immediately, and let the district know. There is no shame in it; these scams work on smart people by hitting them at a busy moment.