Be Alert to Fake/Scam Emails
^{_{Don’t be a Phishing Victim (see samples below)}}

Scammers use a variety of tricks to con people out of their passwords, bank account or Social Security numbers to illegally access their personal accounts. Thousands of phishing emails are sent every day and many are successful, according to the Federal Trade Commission. In 2019, the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center received 467,361 complaints and recorded more than $3.5 billion in losses to individuals and businesses.

One email making the rounds is a classic pyramid scheme, asking United Methodists to contribute an amount of money and promising that much more money will be sent back to them in return. No United Methodist church agency would ever offer such a program.

Anyone who receives a financial request from a pastor or church leader should verify it before sending a gift by contacting the church office.

Excerpts from Jim Patterson's article (UM News)
Read the full article here.

If you have questions about an email, please email the church at .

Here are some Tips for Spotting Phishing Emails and eliminating threats:

• Phishing emails often try to induce panic to encourage victims to reveal information without thinking it through. Common strategies include warning about suspicious activity or log-in attempts, claiming payment or personal information needs updating, including fake invoices and urging clicking on a link to make a payment or get a refund or coupon.
• Sometimes when approaching a church audience, a phishing email will use a heart-tugging message or story to stir sympathy and encourage generosity. Although church institutions do encourage giving in various ways, be on the lookout for messages that seem manipulative and come through unusual channels.
• Emails that come from peculiar email addresses should be treated with caution. Criminals sometimes take care to include the name of a legitimate sender or a recognizable logo in the text of an email, but a check of the actual email address where it originates is often a giveaway of a phishing email.
• Check for spelling, grammar and punctuation mistakes and be on the lookout for awkward writing. Legitimate companies check for such errors before allowing a mass email to be sent.
• Beware of hyperlinks. Hover over before clicking on them and see if the link looks accurate. Sometimes scammers purchase a domain name similar to the one they are purporting to be, so inspect it carefully.
• Attachments, especially from an unknown or suspicious company name, should be treated with caution. Clicking on the wrong attachment can lead to viruses or malware being installed on computers and networks. Even if an attachment looks valid, scanning it with antivirus software is recommended.