STRONGSVILLE, Ohio — Car dealerships, health care systems, the turnpike, the City of Cleveland, what do they all have in common? They're just some of the institutions targeted by cyber criminals this year, and now, you can add a local church to the list; members received emails that looked like they were from their pastor.
In fact, the Better Business Bureau said phishing scams like that nearly doubled last year to more than 9,000, and this year looks to be even worse.
It’s not the type of fishing Strongsville United Methodist Church teaches, but it’s the type Rev. Abby Auman is dealing with.
“They are emailing members of the congregation pretending to be me and trying to get money,” said Auman, who is the senior pastor at Strongsville United Methodist Church.
In late June, members of the church started contacting Auman about weird emails they thought she sent.
“One was just really vague, like, 'Hey, are you available to help me with something? Let me know, pastor Abby,'” said Auman.
Others asked for gift cards for cancer patients. That's when she realized they were dealing with scammers. Not long after, they notified their congregation in service, on Facebook and via email.
They investigated the scam and learned it was not an internal leak, but instead, somehow, through a third party, the bad guys were able to access their church directory, which is upwards of 1,000 people.
“A church directory is really a goldmine for scammers because church people are generous, compassionate and trusting,” said Auman.
The scammers have been emailing those on the list in alphabetical order; each week, they would reach out to four letters. So, the phishing emails went on for weeks. Phishing is when scammers use email or phone to trick someone into sharing their sensitive information, and they target everyone.
In Strongsville, Police Chief Tom O’Deen has gotten multiple scam reports, especially from those who are elderly, but catching the thieves isn't easy.
“These thieves aren't local anymore. A lot of them are out of the country,” said O’Deen.
So they spend lots of time teaching the community on ways to look out for scams including in retail. Many times, elderly individuals will go to a store to buy something like $5,000 worth of gift cards; in those situations, police will teach retailers to make sure they aren’t being scammed and contact authorities.
The Federal Trade Commission said in the past two years, it has seen 1,400 phishing attempts. Most of the time, people don't bite, but Ohioans have lost around $750,000 to phishing. From its experience, the number of reports it sees is much smaller than the number of scams because they know people have lost a lot more.
“This is really what we call an evergreen. There's just always fishing going on,” said Jon Miller Steiger, the Director of the East Central Region of the Federal Trade Commission.
Steiger said cyber security software can protect consumers on some level, but clicking on a simple link could easily cause a problem.
“You're actually opening up your computer, your phone, your network, to the bad guys, they can just get right in and get the information they,’” said Steiger.
So, the best protection is education because the scammers are creative and vigilant.
“If you get a call and you answer the phone, right there, the bad guys have some information that they can make money off of; this is a phone number where someone's going to answer it,” Steiger said.
He reminds everyone to stay alert, especially when it comes to your information.
“Yeah, these emails, these texts, they are constantly coming. It's a constant barrage, so we just have to be on our guard,” said Steiger.
Here are ways FTC recommends you can protect yourself from being scammed:
1. Be careful with your email and phone number and who you give it to.
2. Don't click on links that you are not 100% sure about.
3. Pay attention to how they are asking for your information; any signs of urgency or weird payments like gift cards are two major red flags.
Also, make sure you report any phishing scams to the FTC because they maintain a database that is used by law enforcement all around the world.
