NORFOLK, Va. — A Norfolk church is alerting its members to watch out for scams.
Leaders at Christ and St. Luke's Episcopal Church say some of their congregation told them about an increase in text and email scams asking for "urgent help."
In these text messages, the scammers are pretending to be church leaders asking for gift cards.
The Rev. Noah Van Niel said scammers targeting places of worship is nothing new.
"Every church that I've worked in in my years of ministry, there's been something like this, but like I said, the frequency and sophistication is getting more alarming," he said.
Monday morning, parishioners at the Episcopal church in Norfolk alerted church leaders to suspicious texts like the one pictured below.
"Moving into the text realm sort of crossed a boundary of privacy that was a little bit alarming to us," he said. "We don’t usually ask everyone for their cellphone numbers, so people would have had to do a little bit of work to track this down."
He said the messages were even going to people who are only tangentially related to the church.
Van Niel said the emails and texts look like they are coming from someone you trust on staff asking for digital gift cards.
"This is a relationship that people, whoever these scammers are, are preying on. A relationship of trust a relationship of honesty and openness," he said.
He said thankfully, no one has fallen for it in his congregation.
"We would never ask you for gift cards urgently over text message or even over email," Van Niel said. "When we do our pledge drives when we ask for money, it's all very formal, it’s all very clear its on church letterhead."
He encourages people, not just in his congregation at Christ and St. Luke's, but in all places of worship to remain vigilant.
"It’s really sad and really frustrating, infuriating really, to see people trying to take advantage of others like that," he said.
Remember, if you get a text, email or a phone call asking for money, always verify the sender.
Avoid clicking on suspicious links and be wary of any "urgent" requests.
Also, it's important to keep your personal information secure. Legitimate organizations will never ask for sensitive information like passwords or Social Security numbers via email or text.
You can find other tips to keep you and your family safe from scams on the Federal Trade Commission website.