Broomfield Police Warn Of Scam Targeting Churches

BROOMFIELD, CO — The Broomfield Police Department has issued a warning to the community about a recent string of church scams. Scam artists are pretending to be church leaders, and sending emails and text messages to parishioners, police said.

"You can never trust your caller ID as there are many services available which can imitate any number scammers want displayed on someone's phone," police said in the alert. "The receiver's phone simply matches the fake incoming number up with the entry in their contacts list and displays whatever the receiver has programmed into their phone."

The scam artists pretend to be high-ranking clergy members, and request that the parishioner buy gift cards for some charitable purpose, police said.

Police offered the following example:

"Hello (name of parishioner) this is Father Jones, I need a quick favor from you that is of the utmost importance. I'm at the hospital with a family who has a loved one who's very ill. I need to get them a couple of gift cards to purchase some much-needed items. I'll pay you back immediately. I'm just not in a position to be able to do it myself."

The scam artist directs the church leader to buy between one and five gift cards valued up to $1,000 each.

"The scammer then asks the victim to provide the gift card account numbers and security codes," police said. "There is always an excuse for not making or accepting a voice phone call such as 'my phone isn't working well in the hospital,' or 'I don't want to bother others in the hospital,' or even 'we are busy praying for the recovery of the ill person, I cannot talk now."

Once the scam artist has the gift card account numbers and scratch off security code, the funds are immediately withdrawn, police said.

The Broomfield Police Department recommends being vigilant and verifying that you receive legitimate calls.