Home Christian News Scammers Pose as Pastor in Phishing Attempt; Law Enforcement Urges Vigilance

Scammers Pose as Pastor in Phishing Attempt; Law Enforcement Urges Vigilance

“I was preaching in a church in Memphis, and someone said, ‘Pastor, I just CashApped you. Did you receive it?’ I’m like, ‘No, I didn’t receive it,’” Orr recounted at the time. “And sure enough, it was the fake account.” 

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More recently, Elkin Valley Baptist Church in North Carolina lost over $793,000 in a scam wherein fraudsters impersonated the building company that was constructing their new worship space. 

The email replicated the builder’s logos and even the previous emails in the thread. Thus, when the email provided instructions for payment of services, a member of the office staff followed the prompts and transferred the money. It was only several days later when the builder called to ask the church why they had yet to pay their invoice that they realized they had been scammed.

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A Sheriff’s Department in Florida is also warning churchgoers about a similar scam as the one attempted in Georgia. The scammers reportedly are using the exact same text messages but simply swapping out the names.