Conman posing as Bishop in telephone scam

This today from the offices of the Archdiocese of Southwark:
A man purporting to be a Bishop from the Philippines has rung a number of priests in the Diocese of Southwark asking for money to enable him to attend Bishop John Jukes’ funeral.

He has already been reported in the press but to date he is still ringing priests

Do not ring the number he gives – it might be that is the way he is gaining the money he is requesting.

Please report any contact to your local police station.
There is a press report at Total Catholic concerning this conman. He has been purporting to be Bishop Joseph Surasarang, the retired bishop of Chiang Mai diocese in Thailand but marooned in the Philippines. (Of course the story could change.) He has been targeting Priests, Deacons, Schools and the bereaved. It would be good if we could shut this guy down.

UPDATE: I just had a call from him! (The number he rang from was 639061846758.) After a polite greeting and introduction I started reading the text of the notice from the Archdiocese. For some reason he hung up :-) Details now being emailed to the Police.

UPDATE: He is now telling priests that Archbishop Peter Smith asked him to ring them!

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