These instances of fraud underscore the need for every church to institute preventive policies as well as procedures to follow if cybercrime does occur.
Last year, people pretending to be pastors, relatives, lovers, computer repairmen, or government employees scammed Americans out of nearly $1.2 billion, triggering half a million complaints to the Federal Trade Commission.
Blackbaud, one of the world’s largest providers of financial and fundraising technology to nonprofits, was hacked and paid a ransom to have the hijacked data destroyed by the cybercriminals.