Fwd: Astronomical League: an announcement about recent and ongoing spam

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Tytan Campbell

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Feb 19, 2026, 12:21:37 PMFeb 19
to Tvastronomers


---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: <ros...@astroleague.org>
Date: Thu, Feb 19, 2026 at 9:08 AM
Subject: Astronomical League: an announcement about recent and ongoing spam
To: Astronomical League National Office <league...@astroleague.org>
CC: <ros...@astroleague.org>


This message is being sent to all club presidents and ALCors. We ask that you make the following public announcement at one of your upcoming meetings. It relates to ongoing scam attempts that could be directed at your officers and, possibly, some of your members.  I referenced this in my recent President's Column, but additional verbal communication would be appreciated.

Thanks.

-- Chuck
 
Charles E. Allen III
President, Astronomical League
_____________

ANNOUNCEMENT

League President Chuck Allen has received reports from a number of people who have received emails sent over his signature or that of other League officers asking for help with things like a Venmo payment of a gift card purchase or asking for a call to chat. The email addresses from which these come are not those of any League officer. This has been an ongoing problem for a number of years and seems to come in waves...and a rather strong wave recently.

Please understand that personal email accounts of League officers have not been hacked. Many members who receive these scam emails are not even in League officers' contact lists. What the scammers do is find your email address somewhere, perhaps on your club website, look at the League website to learn about the League so they can sound legitimate, and then send you an email, ostensibly from a League officer whose name is public, hoping you'll help them by arranging a gift card or other payment on behalf of a League program or activity. Sometimes they just ask you to write or call a certain phone number. Never respond to such emails. Delete them. There is no effective way to stop these scams, and they are affecting countless organizations these days.

The bottom line is this: NO OFFICER OF THE ASTRONOMICAL LEAGUE WILL EVER SEND YOU A REQUEST FOR ASSISTANCE IN MAKING A PAYMENT, PURCHASING A GIFT CARD, OR ENGAGING IN ANY FINANCIAL TRANSACTION.   

Thank you.
 

--
Mitch Glaze
Astronomical League Office Manager
(on behalf of AL President Chuck Allen)



Will Kramer

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Feb 19, 2026, 12:47:45 PMFeb 19
to Tytan Campbell, Tvastronomers
Thanks, Tytan!
It reminds me of the scam attempts that are aimed at our Club once in a while.
Will
From: tvastr...@googlegroups.com <tvastr...@googlegroups.com> on behalf of Tytan Campbell <tytancam...@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2026 9:21 AM
To: Tvastronomers <tvastr...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: [TVAstro] Fwd: Astronomical League: an announcement about recent and ongoing spam
 
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John Garrett

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Feb 19, 2026, 1:06:48 PMFeb 19
to Will Kramer, Tytan Campbell, Tvastronomers
While on the subject, we've gotten a few sales messages from email addresses that are on our group list. If the sale isn't related to astronomy and/or and lacks any personal genuineness, I change the posting privilege of that account to "moderated," meaning that one of the club officers would need to approve future messages from the person. Genuine members have had their emails co-opted by spammers in the past, so "moderated" would allow members whose emails got compromised to recover their standing.

jg



--
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Personal web containing light pollution information and science presentations: jgscience.org
 
Climate science website: www.skepticalscience.com

Will Kramer

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Feb 19, 2026, 2:22:35 PMFeb 19
to John Garrett, Tytan Campbell, Tvastronomers
Thanks, John!
Will
From: John Garrett <garr...@gmail.com>
Sent: Thursday, February 19, 2026 10:06 AM
To: Will Kramer <wil...@hotmail.com>
Cc: Tytan Campbell <tytancam...@gmail.com>; Tvastronomers <tvastr...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [TVAstro] Fwd: Astronomical League: an announcement about recent and ongoing spam
 

Kathleen Hefley

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Feb 19, 2026, 2:33:05 PMFeb 19
to Will Kramer, John Garrett, Tytan Campbell, Tvastronomers
Thank you John!

It's a good life!

Kathleen Hefley
Broker Associate 
REALTOR® OICP, RCS-D™,ABR, CFSP™

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