5 Steps to Avoid Internet Scams

As we experienced recently, online hacking is becoming more common. Churches are often the targets of these scams. If you ever get any contact that seems fishy from anyone at the church, please reach out. We welcome questions! And know that we will never ask for secret or surprise donations. Here are a few tips to keep in mind living in the digital age. 

• Check the email address carefully. All addresses from the church are from the name or the position of the sender with the ending “@fumcoly.org”. Example: pastorheather@fumcoly.org, facilities@fumcoly.org. Or when we send out bulk email, it will come from firstumc@firstolympia.ccsend.com.

• Most scams will create a feeling of urgency and/or secrecy. They will say that it's important to act immediately. Or to keep it secret or a surprise.

• Don't click on pop ups. Often scams will create a sense of urgency and fear with a pop up warning. 

• Don't click on links from an email unless you are very sure of the validity of the link. Make sure that the link goes to the right website. If you are at all suspicious, go to a search engine (like google.com) and search for the web page instead of following a link in an email. 

• Similar to the previous tip, only open attachments from people you know and only if you were expecting them. 

And finally, of you ever have any questions, please reach out to any of us here at the church. We are glad to answer questions, we are here to help.