Church warns of email scam to defraud parishioners

The Piedmont Community Church notified community of an email scam using interim minister Dr. Steve Schibsted’s name in an attempt to defraud parishioners. In these kinds of scams, email recipients are often asked to purchase gift cards or to send money for certain causes.

What people need to know:

1. The solicitor’s email address is NOT a church email, rather a Gmail account using Dr. Schibsted’s name. Church staff emails use the PiedmontChurch.ORG domain only.
2. Piedmont Church clergy and staff will not solicit requests to purchase gift cards or to send money outside of familiar church giving channels
3. All church email accounts are properly secured to help avoid security issues
4. You should not reply to emails, or click on email links containing requests for money
5. If you are suspicious about an email that appears to come from Piedmont Church, consider forwarding that email to Director of Communications Michael Barber at Michael@PiedmontChurch.org. Reports of email abuse are investigated.
6. Finally, consider blocking suspicious email accounts to avoid future correspondence