Priests Won’t Ask for Bitcoin — Avoid These Common Scams Directed at Catholics

With the prevalence of easy-to-access technology and the vast variety of ways people communicate these days, the pervasiveness of people who make it their mission to scam people out of money using digital trickery is only increasing. We collected some of the most common scams that are directed specifically toward Catholics as well as how to identify and avoid them in order to protect yourself from online criminals. 

Scammers Using Email

One of the most frequent scams Catholics encounter is scammers posing as their parish priests over email and asking for money or gift cards. This type of email communication is not something your parish priest will do. Scammers work ahead of time to find out the name and email address of a community’s pastor and then create their own, similar email address hoping that their victims won’t notice that the email isn’t coming directly from the pastor’s actual email. The email might even include the receiver’s name or other identifying information, deepening the confusion. The initial emails often look like a harmless note, similar to the following: 

“Hi, Jennifer, how are you doing?
I need a favor from you, email me as soon as you get this message.

God Bless,

Fr. John Franklin ”

Or

“Hi Dan,

How are you?

I have an urgent matter that I need to discuss with you. 

Please let me know when you get this.

Peace, 

Fr. John Franklin”

Messages may even be more complex like: 

“Hello Nancy,

I need a favor from you, email me as soon as you get this message! I’m in a retreat meeting right now and only have access to email so that’s why I’m contacting you through here. I should have called you instead of emailing you, but phones aren’t allowed at this retreat at the moment. 

Talk to you soon,

Fr. John Franklin S.J”

Once the first email is sent, if the recipient responds to the email the scammer will then go on to ask for money. This ask may come in the form of gift cards, crypto-currency like bitcoin, wire money transfers, or donations. The money ask may seem to be for the pastor, themselves, the church, or another ministry. It is important to always check with the parish office to verify that any out-of-the-ordinary email or communication from your pastor is, indeed, from your pastor.

Scammers Using Instagram and Other Social Media Profiles

Another way criminals target Catholics online is through fraudulent social media profiles. A common tactic is for a spammer to create a profile using the name and images of an existing religious person. This could be a sister or a priest or even a bishop. Once the fake account is created they will send messages with requests for prayers and engagement. If you engage they will ask for money or to connect on a different app like WhatsApp. Beware of anyone asking to connect on WhatsApp, this is an app scammers love to use. Sometimes scammers will just simply try to trick you into clicking a link. For example, you may receive a message from them that merely says, “Hey is this you in this video?” They will include a link with the hopes that you will be curious and click it. Don’t click on it!

Other messages we’ve seen:

“The Lord said that you should sow a seed of Faith to THE MOTHERLESS BABY HOME before the end of three days to attract Diviner and Spiritual Breakthrough in your life. There is power in sowing (Deu 24:15). Just contact them on WhatsApp: +2348098247698. God bless you!”

Or

“Good afternoon! 

This is Sister Katherine Marie and I just got out of class. Please, I would like to be receiving motivational quotes and prayers from you if you don’t mind. I hear about you a lot and your community is blessed to have you and your great faith in God. Please send me an email at my Gmail: steve.kafm25@gmail.com. I would like to regularly hear from you.

Blessings!”

Scammers calling/texting parishioner’s phones 

If someone calls your phone claiming to be from your parish and asks for credit card information, gift cards, or for your other personal information, be suspicious! Your church office will NOT call you asking for your credit card over the phone. If you give digitally to your church every month you should only be updating your payment and personal information via the secure online portal your church uses for such payments. 

If you receive such a call, we suggest you decline and then go into your church office to ask about the request in person. If they were not the ones making the request you can report the suspicious behavior so church staff can spread the word.

Ways to Protect Yourself and Your Community

• Be suspicious of any communication that is out of the ordinary.
• Ask other church officials or trusted sources about the communication. If possible, contact the person in question via a different form of communication.
• Run an article in your church bulletin, on your website, and on your parish’s social media about any scams that are going around! WeCreate, our library of catholic graphics and content for parishes to use in their communications,  offers SCAM alert graphics that you can use to draw attention to any announcements you need to make of this nature! 
• Make it a personal rule to never give out any personal information like your credit cards, passwords, etc., to anyone over any form of person-to-person messaging like email, Facebook Messenger, or even over the phone. Verify everything!
• Carefully check any email addresses that claim to be from your pastor or someone in leadership at your church to verify that the email is, indeed, coming from that person’s EXACT email address. 
• Do not click any links without being sure they are from a trusted source and you know exactly where they are leading! 
• Do not engage with messages that are suspicious. Do not text or email back! Report suspicious social media profiles to the platform you where you found them. For example, if someone is posing as your priest on Facebook and asking for gift cards, report the profile to Facebook using the company’s reporting process. In fact, knowing how to report spam and criminal activity on the different social media platforms is essential! 
• Report all suspicious communications to your parish’s staff. It is likely that if scammers are targeting one person at your parish, they are also targeting others who might not be as well informed. Your parish staff can spread the word! 
• File a report through the Federal Trade Commission. You can use their easy-to-use reporting webpage to help the FTC detect patterns of abuse and fraud.

Ultimately, if you receive a message in any way from someone claiming to be somebody you know or someone in leadership at your parish, and they ask for an immediate transfer of money, gift cards, or your personal information, assume it is a scammer and do not engage with them!

Interested in more content like this to help inspire your parish staff? Check out the "Parish Life" section of our blog.

Updated on 03-13-2024