Nationwide Church Scam: Scammers Impersonate Ministers in Gift Card Heist

A nationwide scam targeting churches has been spreading across the country for several years, with scammers impersonating ministers to prey on the charity of vulnerable congregation members.

Sharyn Reisener, a volunteer at a Townsville church, recently encountered the scam when she received an email that appeared to be from her church's minister. The email announced a change in the minister's email address, with a minor alteration to the format.

"Office, can I please have a pdf version of our church directory?" a follow-up email from the new address asked.

Ms Reisener's gut feel was that something was wrong with the email she received. "That rang even more alarm bells because I knew he wouldn't call me 'Office', he would call me by name," she said. "I thought, 'That's not quite right.'"

She called the minister, who was surprised and concerned, and said he did not know anything about 'his' new email address. As the confusion cleared, Ms Reisener realised she had been the target of a scam.

Sydney Diocese Issues Warning

The Sydney Anglican Services head of IT, Nathan McQueen, outlined the likely next steps of the attempted scam in a recent video shared among the Sydney Diocese. He said scammers were impersonating church leaders, whose names are typically publicly available online, to gain access to a church's directory.

"If they do get access, the scammer then emails members of the congregation pretending to be the rector, asking them to purchase gift cards for a vulnerable member of the congregation," he said. "In the busyness of church life, it's easy to imagine how a request like this coming from a rector might be actioned by someone just trying to be helpful."

National Anti-Scam Centre Warns

The National Anti-Scam Centre said this scam had been operating around the country since 2021, targeting churches in every state and territory. A spokesperson said, "If victims do send gift card numbers, they are asked to purchase more."

The spokesperson also mentioned another scam targeting churches, which included the office being sent fake invoices or council rates drafted to look authentic. Another scam identified by the centre included churches receiving fake offers to donate a grand piano, requesting that the church pay 'shipping costs'.

"Before responding to requests for personal information, money or bank account details from someone claiming to be from your church or religious group confirm it is legitimate," the spokesperson said.

Victim's Experience

When Ms Reisener heard of the widespread scam, she felt "sick". "It feels close to being violated," she said, adding that scammers were exploiting the good relationship between a minister and their congregation.

"From a Christian background, people are often giving to others to help them. It's playing on people's emotions and natural responses."

Ms Reisener said churches had vulnerable people who might not be able to detect a scam. "I come from a congregation of elderly people," she said. "A lot of them aren't computer savvy. They would see it as a legitimate email and they wouldn't question it."