Beware of Scammers!

As you may have experienced, scammers are getting more and more clever, and sometimes they are hard to identify as they get more adept at using AI. In an attempt to keep everyone safe here at Resurrection, here are a few things we're doing, and some important things to remember.

• We will no longer be publishing parishioners' email addresses in the Ministry News or on our website. We've noticed that the more email addresses scammers can find connected to our community, the more opportunity they have to make it look like they know us or are one of us. Going forward, we'll just use names in online announcements, and if people want to learn more about the ministry or event that a person is leading, they'll need to hop over to the directory to find their email address.
• Which leads to the next point: the directory is now all the more important! Please sign up if you haven't already (you can email [email protected] to do so) and also double-check that your contact info in there is correct.
• Remember that staff will NEVER ask you for gift cards electronically. When you get emails like this, it's not that the scammers have hacked into our actual email accounts, but rather that they have created new email accounts that look like ours, for example [email protected] -- perhaps a plausible email address, but it's not mine. If we're using bad grammar and getting pushy when we're emailing you, it's probably a scammer! The only time we will ever ask for gift cards is when we gather the actual, physical cards to give away through Hope Solutions and similar charity efforts. We will never, ever ask you to give us the codes electronically. This is always a scam.
• When in doubt, text or call us! (Another reason to be registered with the directory, so you have our numbers easily at hand!) If it looks like a phishy email but you aren't sure, don't respond there on email, and reach out to us in another form to double-check.
• We try our best to keep scammers out of our Facebook group, but once in a while they slip through. If you see someone offering a service (car-detailing and air duct cleaning are common ones) do not engage with them, and please click to report it. These are always a scam.

Thanks for helping to keep everyone safe!