THE mayor of Holsworthy has spoken of his shock after discovering a scammer was using his name to contact others.

Cllr Nigel Kenneally was given a nasty surprise when informed by fellow councillors that they had received an email purporting to be from him but appeared to be suspicious.

With the subject line of ‘out of town’, the email read: “I am reaching out with a question and would appreciate your feedback. I am presently in an appointment. Best Wishes, Cllr Nigel Kenneally.”

However, the email address it was sent from was not his legitimate email but rather ‘[email protected]’, leading to the actual Cllr Kenneally issuing a warning to anyone who receives any correspondence with his name that isn’t from his official Holsworthy Town Council email address.

Thanking fellow councillors for their diligence, Cllr Kenneally said: “I was horrified to learn that a fake email account had been set up in my name, purporting to be Cllr Nigel Kenneally. A couple members of Holsworthy town council were contacted by this fake account and were asked for help.

“Luckily they queried it and brought it to my attention and then promptly deleted the fake email. I'm glad my councillors acted with such haste. All my devices have now undergone a thorough anti-virus scan.”