Con artists are hawking what they claim is a golden opportunity for churches:
Free equipment or services. Often targeting African American churches, these
scammers may profess a shared faith, culture, or concern for the community to
gain the trust of the church staff.
In a common scheme, scammers may offer computer equipment to the staff of a
church, claiming the cost will be covered by a “sponsor,” who later turns out to
be phony. In the meantime, the staff simply has to sign an agreement to lease
the equipment, make a regular payment, and deposit checks from the “sponsor” to
cover the checks written by the church. While this is going on, the scammers can
gain access to the church’s bank accounts and withdraw funds.
The Federal Trade Commission works for consumers to prevent fraudulent,
deceptive, and unfair business practices and to provide information to help
spot, stop, and avoid them. To file a complaint in English or Spanish, visit the
FTC’s online Complaint
Assistant or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357). The FTC enters complaints
into Consumer Sentinel, a secure, online database available to more than 1,500
civil and criminal law enforcement agencies in the U.S. and abroad. The FTC’s
Web site provides free information on a variety of consumer
topics.
