Since 2022, scammers have been targeting Valley Bible Church members through email scams. These attacks involve impersonation of Pastor Ben Orchard, attempting to solicit money from church attendees.
While VBC cannot prevent these scams outright, we aim to protect our church community by keeping everyone informed. This form of attack, known as phishing, is unfortunately common and highly effective.
Here are some key tips to identify and avoid falling victim to these scams:
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Be Skeptical of Urgency: Scammers often pressure you to act immediately using distress and/or a need for confidentiality/privacy. Take your time to verify the request by calling or speaking with the sender in person before taking any action.
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Never Share Financial Information: Do not send money or disclose sensitive data in response to these requests.
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Evaluate the Contact Information: Emails sent from Valley Bible Church staff will only be sent from email addresses using the domain “spokanevbc.org”. Communication from VBC will never come from email services such as Gmail, Yahoo, Outlook, etc.
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Example of an attacker's email address:
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Ben Orchard <pastorbenorchard.spokanevbc@gmail.com>
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Example of legitimate email from VBC staff:
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Ben Orchard <ben@spokanevbc.org>
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- If you review the email address from an email you received and see it is not coming from spokanevbc.org, you can be confident the email was sent from a scammer. However, even email sender information can be faked, so never take any action from a suspicious email without first verifying the sender via phone call or in-person.
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Contact VBC staff directly if you receive a suspicious email that appears to be coming from someone at the church. This can be done by sending an email directly to the staff member’s email address as listed on our church website, by calling the church (509-928-5161), or by asking in person. Taking 2 minutes to verify information before taking an action can save you from loss of information or financial resources and is always worth it.
Please remember: No member of Valley Bible Church staff will ever contact you directly to request money. When in doubt, ask a church staff member, elder, or deacon for guidance.