UPDATED 3/5/2024
By 2020 at the height of the pandemic the number and variety of scams had increased to such extent that we needed more space than we had on the Home Page to address the threats to members of the congregation.
We have by and large emerged from the worst of the coronavirus pandemic and returned to something approximating a new normal. The scars of the pandemic however and its effects still linger. In addition the continuing uncertainty and continuing turmoil aspects of our daily lives create a situation in which people are anxious and susceptible to fear—fears which scammers can exploit.
Requests for contributions purporting to come from the church or from pastors personally have been been successful at defrauding members of churches in VA Conference.
The latest notice from the Mission Rivers District prompted this UPDATE:
Hello everyone,
There has been an increase in scam activity lately. There are two common ones. One is sent supposedly from the pastor or staff member to the church treasurer telling them to change the direct deposit information for their paychecks. The other is the email supposedly sent from the pastor or DS saying, “Have you got a minute? I need your help”.
The email address will be similar to the correct one – but a little different.
Please remember that your Pastor, DS, District Office, etc. will NEVER ask you via email to buy gift cards. If you receive one, please mark the email as scam and/or delete it.
Blessings,
Lisa & Lynn
Our Pastor will never request money or gift cards through email or text message. Contributions to support church programs and charitable mission activities are solicited and formally accounted for through general or designated giving. This is not to preclude any member as an individual from sharing with others as the spirit moves them to meet individual needs. However, it is best not reply unless and until you have confirmed and understand the details of the request to avoid being targeted again in the future.
Spoofing is NOT limited to hacking of emails. Hackers impersonate their targets through phone numbers (calling and text) as well as email by gathering data quickly from a basic search online. The requests can have every appearance of being from a trusted source. Telephone numbers and caller ID information can be forged to impersonate other individuals and organizations.
Some hints for recognizing phishing or ransomware scams from what appear to be legitimate operations.
A common technique has been to use the color scheme and design format oa a legitimate business to simply “brand” an email with the appearance of legitimate company. They take a lot of different forms. Scams have cycles, and the different forms wax and wane in popularity. There are so many now that some general rules are necessary:
A great number of email accounts have been hacked, compromising the Contact information associated with those accounts. That information can be used not only to target victims with spam and ransomware. More sophisticated hackers forge addresses so that they appear to come from friends and family.
Some hints for detecting that an email that appears to be from a friend may be forged
Unless you know it’s coming, any email that consists only of clickable links or buttons or where text consists of minimal and generic statements like: “Thought you would be interested in this,” or “Did you get my request for information about your surname?” should be suspect.
In some cases, the only indicator may be that it just doesn’t sound like the sender you know. It never hurts to check, by contacting the sender independently by a new email, phone call or text.
To protect yourself and your family finances
If you have ANY doubt, do not reply to any personal or financial information. Always confirm the information with the presumed sender independently through a separate means of communications–other than the one through which you got the initial message. One of the simplest steps available for credit-card based scams and identity theft is to call the customer service number on the back of the card or on bills or invoices that have been received from the legitimate company.
As always, Grandma’s advice applies–if it looks too good to be true there’s a high probability that it’s not legitimate.