"Preying on the Unsuspecting:" CME Church Scam Persists
By Dr. Paul Brown, Miles Memorial CME, Washington, DC
Times are hard these days! Finances are dwindling and churches are clamoring to save and retrieve all the members they can. However, it is in that spirit that these unscrupulous individuals are using to prey on unsuspecting pastors and church leaders to scam them out of hard earned cash and often benevolence monies from churches.
The scam works as follows: An individual will call a pastor pretending to be a pastor of a large CME Church whose neice, daughter or member is moving into the area of the unsuspecting pastor. She will be traveling by car with her two, three or four children. The next day or a few days later, the young girl will call the pastor who has been contacted about her coming and she proceeds to tell the unsuspecting pastor that she has broken down and is at a repair shop and her car repairs will cost about $800 (or some other amount) and she is in desperate need and will repay the funds once she arrives in the city. They will always give some fictitious road, highway or street as to where they have broken down but they will put the so-called repair man on the phone to confirm that he has her car and cannot release it until the bill has been paid in full.
Here is where the scam takes on its nebulous nature. The repairman will tell the unsuspecting pastor to wire the money by Western Union or wire it to a local Wal-Mart and then the matter will be taken care of. The unsuspecting pastor, in their desire to help a so-called stranded CME potential member, will wire the monies to these individuals who then have no paper trail to connect them legally!!
As one whose name has been a part of this scam, I suggest one thing. DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, EVER SEND ANY MONEY OVER THE WIRE TO PERSONS YOU HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF OR HAVE NEVER MET BEFORE, EVEN IF THEY COME WITH A RECOMMENDATION FROM SOMEONE WHO CLAIMS TO BE A WELL KNOWN PREACHER IN THE CME CHURCH OR A BISHOP!
While I realize the desire to help someone out of a compassionate spirit that most pastors possess, it is just plain good sense to contact the individuals whose names are being used first to authenticate any so-called story being told to you. On a side note, I find it difficult to believe that anyone leaving one church to go to another, will not first have a conversation with all parties involved, and then, to call a preacher and ask for money is not something I would readily recommend any member to do, much less a family member!
Please, should you get any such calls, get all the info, tell them you will get back to them, verify any and all information and then forward it to the local authorities so that we can finally catch these unscrupulous individuals once an for all!
Times are hard these days! Finances are dwindling and churches are clamoring to save and retrieve all the members they can. However, it is in that spirit that these unscrupulous individuals are using to prey on unsuspecting pastors and church leaders to scam them out of hard earned cash and often benevolence monies from churches.
The scam works as follows: An individual will call a pastor pretending to be a pastor of a large CME Church whose neice, daughter or member is moving into the area of the unsuspecting pastor. She will be traveling by car with her two, three or four children. The next day or a few days later, the young girl will call the pastor who has been contacted about her coming and she proceeds to tell the unsuspecting pastor that she has broken down and is at a repair shop and her car repairs will cost about $800 (or some other amount) and she is in desperate need and will repay the funds once she arrives in the city. They will always give some fictitious road, highway or street as to where they have broken down but they will put the so-called repair man on the phone to confirm that he has her car and cannot release it until the bill has been paid in full.
Here is where the scam takes on its nebulous nature. The repairman will tell the unsuspecting pastor to wire the money by Western Union or wire it to a local Wal-Mart and then the matter will be taken care of. The unsuspecting pastor, in their desire to help a so-called stranded CME potential member, will wire the monies to these individuals who then have no paper trail to connect them legally!!
As one whose name has been a part of this scam, I suggest one thing. DO NOT, UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, EVER SEND ANY MONEY OVER THE WIRE TO PERSONS YOU HAVE NO KNOWLEDGE OF OR HAVE NEVER MET BEFORE, EVEN IF THEY COME WITH A RECOMMENDATION FROM SOMEONE WHO CLAIMS TO BE A WELL KNOWN PREACHER IN THE CME CHURCH OR A BISHOP!
While I realize the desire to help someone out of a compassionate spirit that most pastors possess, it is just plain good sense to contact the individuals whose names are being used first to authenticate any so-called story being told to you. On a side note, I find it difficult to believe that anyone leaving one church to go to another, will not first have a conversation with all parties involved, and then, to call a preacher and ask for money is not something I would readily recommend any member to do, much less a family member!
Please, should you get any such calls, get all the info, tell them you will get back to them, verify any and all information and then forward it to the local authorities so that we can finally catch these unscrupulous individuals once an for all!
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