Every year, people lose millions of dollars to imposter scams. Often fraudulent phishing text messages or emails pose as a pastor or member of an organization and ask for a favor–something like the following:
“Hi {Recipient Name}. I pray that you and your family are safe and well. I have a request I need you to handle confidentially. I want to bless some cancer patients in our church with gift cards. Can you help?”
Unfortunately scammers often target church attenders to take advantage of their generosity and willingness to help. Learn more >
As a reminder, our pastors and staff will never contact you in this way to solicit money, donations, or gift cards. If you receive a request like this, do not disclose any personal information, even if you are addressed by name. If you are ever unsure of the legitimacy of any text message or email that you receive, please do not hesitate to contact the church office by phone or by initiating a new email to someone at the church office (rather than replying to a suspicious email.)
Official church communication will end in the domain @fellowshipefc.org. Most phishing emails attempt to look similar (e.g. stephen.fellowshipefc(at)gmail(dot)com) but do not match the true domain. A closer look at the email address may assist you in determining the validity of a message.
Avoiding and Reporting Gift Card Scams >
Remember, only scammers will tell you to buy a gift card and give them the numbers off the back of the card. No matter what they say, that’s a scam.
