Please be aware that churches and their members are being targeted by scammers. The messages often pretend to be from pastors or other church leadership asking for money in the form of gift cards and other ways. Be sure to verify that any messages you receive are from who they say that are. Check the email address or phone number to see if it is authentic and look for red flags in the messages. If you suspect the message is not trustworthy, ask someone else to read it or call the church office to verify its authenticity.
Attackers will want to create a sense of urgency, to prey on your desire to help. They will often claim the leader or pastor needs something and is in a meeting or needs to urgently have a private conversation. These emails will often contain misspellings, strange punctuation, or grammar that is just a little bit ‘off”. Read messages with requests carefully.
Don’t purchase gift cards or give out information such as church directory lists or your personal information.
Report scam messages or texts to your church’s leadership; there is a good chance that if you received a scam email or text, someone else did too. Also report it to the FCC. If you are the victim of a scam, report that to local law enforcement.