Scam E-mails Hitting Brazos Valley Churches, Warns BBB

BBB has cautioned churches located inside Texas' Brazos Valley for being watchful about scam e-mails directing the institutions to send funds, no matter if the messages appeared official, published theeagle.com dated November 3, 2015.

CEO and President Bill McGuire from BBB stated that Grace Bible Church's Debbie Howard the institution's Finance Director gave him a call reporting that she received one phishing e-mail that seemed as message from a senior pastor, published theeagle.com.

The electronic mail requested that Howard should send cash through a wire-transfer that according to her was an unexceptional appeal from the pastor.

Indeed, the pastor had not dispatched the electronic mail.

McGuire indicated that during such incidences related to request for money the e-mail recipient confirming with the e-mail sender was the best move for adopting.

According to him, the incident was something which could happen anytime with any person. So one must remain watchful while confirm all sorts of e-mails which told the recipient he should dispatch money somewhere.

Howard's encounter with the phishing e-mail occurred just seven days after authority started an investigation into certain phone scam related to jury duty which advised people to make monetary payments for not getting imprisoned over default jury duty payment.

In a similar happening of church getting scammed, Baxter (Minnesota, USA) located Lord of Life Church, during the 1st-week of October 2015, got victimized with identity theft making the church lose $24,000; however, managing to recover USD10K, said Church Council President Sarah Speer. Jamestownsun.com reported this, October 5, 2015.

When staff of the church and bank discovered the theft September 24, 2015 Speer was immediately notified.

Speer explained how e-mail id of a staff was spoofed in a way that a message from the account appeared as arriving from the building's interior premise, asking funds to be wire-transferred to support certain benevolence project.

Although Speer's institution had all the necessary accounting controls, even then the smart scammers managed to know the protocols followed with determining the way for creating urgency.

Jim Exsted Chief of Baxter Police assured of an ongoing investigation into the financial scam hitting the church, reported jamestownsun.com.

» SPAMfighter News - 11/6/2015