FORT THOMAS, Ky. — A Fort Thomas church is warning its members to be on the lookout for scam messages impersonating church members.
Reverend Edward Goode said since this past weekend, about 10 people at Christ Church United Church of Christ received either an email or a text message that said, "I need your assistance." Goode said the person on the other end will then ask for Amazon gift cards.
In one text someone had forwarded to Goode, the message is signed Rev. Edward Goode but he said the number it was sent from isn't his phone number.
“Because it looked like it came from me or looked like it came from someone in the church, people trust that without looking into the details of the messages and they go and they get the cards, they send the codes and the person spends it real fast," he said.
Goode said this isn't the first time these scams have targeted his church and it's frustrating.
"It’s frustrating because number one I’m really sad for the scammer. I’m really sad that they feel like this is a way that they want to try to make money," he said. “It’s frustrating because I don’t want people to have to look at the world and not trust the world, but you have to be smart about things and it’s really frustrating when people are just trying to do the right thing.”
Goode shared this advice with his congregation:
“Trust your gut. If it feels weird, it probably is," he said.
The Federal Trade Commission said it's common for scammers to pretend to be from an organization you know. It also said asking for money in a specific way, like through gift cards, is a red flag.
There are some things you can do to avoid scams.
One recommendation from the FTC is to filter messages from unknown senders. On an iPhone, the user just has to go to Settings > Messages > Filter unknown messages.
If you've already gotten a suspicious message, experts said the best thing to do is dial a number you know is associated with the organization, like the main office number for Christ Church, and find out if the message is real or a scam.
