Dear Faith Family,
It appears that once again, there are emails being sent from a person representing themselves as Pr. John Barton. Unfortunately, religious organizations have become easy targets for these types of scams, which take advantage of people's generosity.
Just a reminder, no one on the church staff will ever email you asking for you to send money, gift cards, perform "some tasks" for them, or include a vague message asking for a "favor" and for you to respond immediately . You can hover your cursor over the sender's email address (without clicking it) to view the address of the true sender or call the church office if you are in doubt. Valid email addresses and phone numbers for all church staff members can be found in the text to the right. --->
Please delete such emails and don't reply back or click on any links contained within the message. If you wish to make the church office aware of the email, please do not forward the email, but rather, send a new email message with the info (date/sender's email) to faithlutheranmenifee@gmail.com .
For more information from the FCC (Federal Communications Commission) on these types of emails, please click the link below.
How to Recognize and Avoid Phishing Scams - FCC
Worshippers Targeted by Gift Card Scams - FCC
In addition, our colleagues in the Southeastern Iowa Synod have produced a very helpful PDF flyer about email and test spoofing and scams, which you may download here. The second page of the flyer includes specific examples and various links to additional resources.
In Christ,
Pr. John and the Church Council