Last week parishioners of the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of the South Fork in Bridgehampton received text messages from an imposter claiming to be their pastor, the Rev. Kimberly Quinn Johnson.
The imposter had a “request” for them to “manage confidentially” and asked them to text back immediately. The real Kimberly Johnson was inundated with phone calls and screenshots of this imposter text and eventually put out a warning on Instagram to her parishioners, and everyone else, to be wary of scams like this one.
“They take advantage of people’s wanting to help and trust that we’ve built up,” Ms. Johnson said, adding that the experience left her feeling “disappointed and infuriated.” Luckily it appears no one was fooled by the scam, as many opted instead to get in touch with the pastor directly to confirm that the text was from her.
It may not have been just luck, however, but also experience. “This kind of thing happens periodically,” Ms. Johnson said. “I actually copied my Instagram post from a template from the last time. This happens in the community at least once a year.”
As it turns out, many faith communities see such scams sent out to their parishioners. Often gift cards or money sent directly are sought. In this case, the scammer was asking for two $500 gift cards to Apple.
But one of the parishioners the text was sent to was an “internet sleuth,” according to Ms. Johnson — a physician, Dr. Katie Legare, who has had training in identifying scam messages. She pointed out that “a lot of things about the text read as scamming, like the immediacy and secrecy.”
“I’m originally from Tennessee,” Dr. Legare said, “and I recognized the area code, 651, as a Nashville number.” This led her to do some digging online, and after a quick Google search she discovered that another house of worship, an Anglican church in Oklahoma, had received the same text from the same phone number. The only difference was that it was “signed” by that church’s pastor at the bottom.
Additionally, while responding to the original scam text and trying to get the person responsible on the phone, Dr. Legare received another text, this time from a number with a 909 area code. “I plugged the second number in,” she said, “and I found it was connected to a scam in a Catholic church that I found in a Facebook post.”
In response, both Ms. Johnson and Dr. Legare made a report to the Federal Trade Commission, but Ms. Johnson does not expect much to come of it. “I get some tips from the F.T.C. on how to spot and avoid scams,” she said, “but houses of worship are a target.” Some of those tips she shared on her Instagram post included blocking and reporting the number that sent the text.
As concerning as this incident was, Dr. Legare did see some good coming out of it. “I have a 12-year-old daughter,” she said, “and her dad and I thought it was a great teaching opportunity for her media literacy.”
In an internet-dependent age, one of the most important defenses against a scam is being able to recognize one when you see it.
