Wolves Among Sheep: Attempted Fraud at StC

Well, I hoped the title would grab your attention because I want you to be aware…

On September 21st, someone used a phone number not known to be associated with anyone at St. Christopher’s to impersonate Fr. James. So here’s what you need to do… the last one may surprise you! (yeah, that was a click-bait technique… but read on.)

1. Make sure you know Fr. Jame’s real phone number and the true phone/text numbers of St. Christopher’s:
   – Fr. James #: 360-628-[not shown online]
   – Church #: 360-866-2111
   – Auto Text Message #: 360-810-3292
   – Jodi, our Church Manager’s text number: (361)-524-[not shown online]
   
2. Delete the false message. Do not reply to it. And never click a link from someone you don’t know.
   
3. Make sure you are up to date with your updates. Hackers exploit older forms of software.

4. Don’t reuse passwords across multiple accounts. What does that have to do with this scam? Because we think that’s how our scammer got hold of congregant phone numbers! Here’s how that could work…

The scammer purchased a list of passwords leaked from another hacked sight. They found out about the person associated with that password (i.e. they attended StC). They used the password originally associated with another website to gain access to Church Community Builder, our member portal, and voila! From a reused password they learned the names and numbers of the church congregants. Now all they had to do was impersonate a trusted individual to begin a scam/con routine. They were hoping it wouldn’t matter that they couldn’t fake the trusted person’s phone number. (FYI, this is easier to do on email and why it is so important to find out the actual email address of a sender, not just the name at the top of the email. Anyone can put “Trusted Person” as the name on any email like scammers.R.us@fake.dot.)

So always know the official numbers and emails addresses of the people you trust.

Help Keep Fraud to a Minimum.

1. If you use the same password across multiple sites, please change your password for CCB. Go to the login screen and choose “Forgot password” to change it.
   
2. All those passwords… how can you keep track of all those different ones? A password journal (found on Amazon or on Barnes & Noble) or password software like Apple Keychain, Google Passwords, 1Password, or LastPass are great way to keep track of them.

Prayer and Peace

And now, as Christ has taught us, let’s pray for those who persecute us and others:

God of prefect righteousness and fathomless love, we pray for those whose actions we can neither fathom nor tolerate. Lead us into wisdom and love. Temper justice and accountability with mercy and grace. Let truth set us and our enemies free from enmity. Restore righteousness that we may never have vengeful hearts nor hurt one another. In the name of Christ, who forgives all sins and all sinners, even me. Amen.

P.S. To our scammer, your actions do not bar you from God’s love, nor ours. Don’t hurt others anymore. Come join us in prayer sometime instead. Christ’s peace be always with you.