A Catawba County church is warning others after scammers impersonated the pastor in emails asking members to buy Apple gift cards. Grace Lutheran Church officials said no one lost money, but one member responded before the scam was discovered.
Channel 9’s Dave Faherty spoke with the Rev. Doug Hefner on Thursday morning at Grace Lutheran Church, which dates back to the late 1700s and is well-known in the area.
The pastor said that they alerted members by phone and email when they became aware of the scam.
One member responded, and others called him, and no one lost any money in the scam, Hefner said.
The scammer asked for gift cards, in this case, two $200 Apple gift cards, deputies said.
The email had the pastor’s name and included the words “Church office pastor 111.”
Hefner said that he doesn’t want congregations to fall for the scam.
“It really is disheartening that anyone would do this, and usually it’s people who are elderly and people that can least afford to do something like that,” Hefner said.
Hear from the church member who responded to the scam email on Eyewitness News at 5:30 p.m.
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