Bend church parishioners the latest target of long-running gift-card scam, now enhanced by artificial intelligence
Barney Lerten
(Update: Adding Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office scam warning, video)
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) — Several members of a Bend church have become the latest intended targets of a gift-card scam that has been around for years but appears to be getting more sophisticated all the time, sending out emails impersonating the pastor, possibly with the help of artificial intelligence.
A parishioner at Nativity Lutheran Church alerted KTVZ News he was one of church members to get the scam emails, and Pastor Chris Kramer confirmed and provided the details to us.
Kramer said a similar, less sophisticated scam involved the church about five years ago.
This time, he said, parishioners began getting bogus emails early last week that claimed to be from Kramer, including his name and photo, likely harvested off the website. They speak of a “delicate” situation – and ask the recipient to buy Target gift cards and provide the numbers off them.
“Apparently, they have read our newsletter, got a little sense of my writing style,” the pastor said. Asked if he thought it likely involved AI, Kramer replied: “Absolutely!”
Kramer said the “predatory” Target gift card scam targets -no pun intended – the “particularly generous and the elderly, who are not necessarily so sophisticated in the ways of the computer world.”
And Kramer repeated words familiar to many: “We’d never ask anyone on an email, ever, to give anyone gift cards.”
Another Bend church was the target a year ago, he recalled, and more recently a Medford church.
The scammers manage to compromise someone’s computer, finding names and harvesting email addresses from an unprotected computer.
The parishioner who contacted KTVZ wrote that the pastor “has mentioned (the scam) several times previously, so we were ready. But the messages are so ‘genuine,’ you can understand how some people have been stung. Target has been great about notifying and refunding, etc.”
As for finding the scammers, it’s not likely, if not impossible.
“It’s not local, and these people are probably in India or China or Russia – or who knows?” Kramer said. “I read an article about the slave trade, where they force the slaves to do this work.”
“We need to get the word out,” the pastor said. “Please, no pastor will ever ask you to go buy gift cards!”
At least five church members bought the cards after getting the scam email, and Kramer said he’s only aware of one who apparently didn’t get Target to deactivate the card in time, to the tune of $600 until a refund.
“A couple of them did upload the cards, as the scammers told them,” Kramer said. “They then called the church to see if they did it correctly, and we told them, ‘No, no! Call Target!’ They deactivated the card.”
And the scammers, whoever and wherever they are, can be … stubborn.
Kramer said one parishioner who got the gift card deactivated in time to avoid a loss heard from the scammers once again, who said “It didn’t work – could you try it again?”
Kramer also contacted Bend Police last week to report the issue, according to Communications Manager Sheila Miller.
Overall, she said, the department has gotten about 315 calls reporting scams or online fraud so far this year.
Apparently coincidentally, the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office posted this Scam Alert on their Facebook page on Tuesday:
“Scam calls have picked up and this morning we have had an influx of calls about them. Here’s what you need to know:
1. We will never call you to say you have a warrant
2. We will never ask you to pay us
3. Hang up as soon as you hear bitcoin
4. We do not have badge numbers at the Sheriff’s Office
5. We will not call you about missing Jury Duty
6. You can ALWAYS hang up and call our office to verify any phone call you get, scam or just questionable.
Please look out for family members that are not on social media. They do often target the older generations. Share this information with your family, friends, and neighbors.”
The Federal Trade Commission website to report such fraud says it has been tempoarily shut down due to the partial government shutdown but still links to consumer.ftc.gov. The Internet Crime Complaint Center (https://www.ic3.gov/) also is still in operaton.
The Oregon Department of Justice also has a hotline and website to report consumer fraud. The Consumer Hotine at 1-877-877-9392 is open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., staffed by volunteers who field more than 50,000 calls each year. The website also has a searchable consumer complaint database.