Our church has been alerted to a large number of clergy in the VA conference having their email and phone numbers targeted by scammers. This scam is happening in other churches and faith organizations and is the work of well-run criminal enterprises targeting vulnerable individuals who may not be well versed in computer technology and are susceptible to impersonation by church leaders. The most common approach in this type of scam is to get the victim to reply (which opens them up to future targeted scams) or to purchase prepaid gift cards.

This practice is called “spoofing,” where an email or text is sent to make it look like the message is coming from a trusted source rather than a scammer. Spoofing is not the same as the hacking of computer systems. These spammers impersonate their targets through phone calls, texts, or email by gathering basic information online about the people they wish to impersonate. 

This has happened to nearly every pastor, so we want to clearly communicate to you that your pastor will not ask congregation members for money, immediate responses, or prepaid cards, in any form, through email or text message. If Galilee seeks donations, we will always ask for you to donate safely in the offering plates or through our established online giving platforms.