Folx recently have been receiving email requests, allegedly from the ministers, to help them purchase a gift card but not to call them due to being in a meeting. Luckily, most of our congregation knows this isn’t the way our ministers operate. We want our congregation to recognize the signs of a phishing emails and texts easily. Here are a few steps you can take if you receive a phishing email or text:

• Look at the email address from the sender. Our ministers will only use their UCG emails for church communications, so if it’s not coming from ucgainesville.org, it’s a scam. Example; Andyb@ucgainesville.org is correct. Andybucgainesville@gmail.com is NOT legitimate. You can find all of our contact information at the church website.
• Red flags in the body of an email: stating they can’t talk on the phone or are in a meeting, asking for urgency and confidentiality, adding biblical references, typos or grammatical errors, email is sent at an odd time and/or date. Our ministers are referred to as reverends. They do not address themselves as a pastor or father.
• Text Messages! Phishy texts can happen too. Look out for same red flags as an email. Phone number will not match the phone number listed on the church directory for the ministers.
• The ministers will never ask you for a favor or to purchase anything on their behalf. If you are in doubt, immediately call the front office to confirm before responding. If the email is sent after office hours, do not respond until you have communicated with the front office.

Do not feel obligated to respond to the email/text and do not share personal information or send a verification code if asked.