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November 28, 2025Once again, fraudulent emails appearing to come from "Fr. Rolf Tollefson" are being delivered to parishioner email inboxes, with the intent to confuse and manipulate. However, the emails have now become more sophisticated, with much more advanced mimicking of pastorly messaging. See the photos at right for the latest example.
Similarly to the messages over the past few years, these emails have been coming from Gmail accounts (email addresses ending in @gmail.com) or similar and not from our official Nativity of Our Lord accounts (addresses ending in @nativitystpaul.org).
This is the clearest sign they are fraudulent. In fact, this latest round again doesn't even have Fr. Tollefson's name in his email address. However, this is particularly difficult to discern from mobile devices, as phone-based email applications often only show the display name ("Reverend Fr. Rolf Tollefson" — see pictured), and not the bogus email account name.
All legitimate emails from Nativity clergy and staff come from the domain name “@nativitystpaul.org.” Furthermore, Nativity clergy and staff will never send “emergency” or “urgent” emails requesting money, iTunes gift cards, or any other assistance.
If you receive a questionable email, please do not open any links, do not reply, and certainly do not provide any sensitive information, particularly financial information.
Please always check from what email address an email is originating — even if the display name is familiar, and even if they are addressing you by your name, and especially if you check your email on your mobile device.
When in doubt, contact the supposed source party through another channel, or ignore it altogether.
What to do if you receive an email from a scammer claiming to be Fr. Tollefson:- Forward the email to the parish office so we can be aware and keep track of this ongoing issue.
- Block the address from sending you future emails.
Parishes nationwide — including a number of other parishes in our local Archdiocese — are being similarly targeted with these scams. Please be (again) on high alert.
Finally, always feel free to contact the Parish Office at (651) 696-5401 or [email protected] if you have any questions about suspect emails.
Thank you!
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Earlier versions of this post appeared in July of 2024, November of 2018, March of 2019, and in May of 2021.
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From the archives:- Previous post on phishing texts from 3/20/2024: https://nativitystpaul.org/news/text-phishing-scam-again-impersonating-fr-tollefson
- Channel 5 story from 3/21/19, which interviews Isaac Huss, Director of Communications at Nativity: https://kstp.com/news/phishing-scam-targeting-area-churches-minneapolis-st-paul-ardiocese/5287778/?cat=12196
- The Catholic Spirit article from 5/1/19, which quotes our blog posts: http://thecatholicspirit.com/featured/online-scam-targets-priests-parishioners/