(WXYZ) — I've reported on a lot of imposter scams over the years, but never one that is targeting a church congregation.
See the full story in the video below
This scam targeting people at Kirk in the Hills Presbyterian Church in Bloomfield Township has been going on for about a year and a half. The pastor is now speaking out about the scam and sharing tips of how you can avoid similar schemes.
"How many of your parishioners have been targeted?" I asked Rev. Dr. Edwin Estevez, the senior pastor at Kirk in the Hills.
"Hundreds, hundreds that we know of," he said.
Estevez says he's been issuing scam alerts for the last year and a half about emails or texts pretending to be from him or other church leaders.
Many are brief, like one that asks to "discuss a favor."
"What was a typical email solicitation like?" I asked.
"It has the mark of urgency. It has the mark of seeming generous. You're helping someone in an emergency situation that's, who's at the hospital or whose house burned down or they need to feed a baby or there's always kind of these urgent requests," Estevez said.
"Have any of your parishioners lost money because of this?" I asked.
"Sadly, yes," he said. "With some of the smaller scams, so the gift card one that's usually urgent, maybe $500, $800, $1,000. For the larger wire transfer ones, you're looking at thousands, maybe $10,000, $13,000, yeah."
Now, the church no longer lists staff email addresses online, doesn't send sensitive information via email, and regularly sends "digital safety reminders" that the church will never ask for money, gift cards or financial assistance through email or text.
"You know someone's going to fall for this, no matter what we do. And that's part of the heartbreak. That's what feels overwhelming," Estevez said.
The Federal Trade Commission warns there are many types of imposter scams, from IRS and jury duty scams, to business imposter scams and even family and romance scams. The FTC says:
- Don’t click on links or call phone numbers in unexpected messages
- If you think the message could be real, verify the story
- Contact the organization using a phone number, website, or email you know is real
- Don’t use the contact information in the unexpected message
- Never send money to someone you don’t know in response to an unexpected message
"Most of these scams are not based on real relationship. They're based on email and other tech innovations and scams. So, I think this is an opportunity for us as a church, and I hope for all faith leaders, to reestablish how important real person-to-person relationships are," Estevez said.
Kirk in the Hills reported the scam to the Bloomfield Township Police, the IC3 and the FTC. If you've been targeted in a scam, you can report it to your local law enforcement agency and to the Federal Trade Commission.
