Your data may be in the hands of scammers. Here’s how to respond

Earlier this month, many Christian and secular charities woke up to the news that their databases had been compromised and their data breached. The charities affected had their volunteers’ and donors’ data stored in a customer relationship management (CRM) database provided by the third-party company called Beacon which claims to store the data of over 1,500 voluntary sector organisations.

A breach in the charity world

Charities affected include Christians in Sport, Tyndale House Cambridge, Lincoln Cathedral, Keswick Ministries, Operation Mobilisation (OM) and Living Out. The data compromised included the names of donors and volunteers, addresses, email addresses, phone numbers, genders, dates of birth, and records of donations or payments. Any charity affected has a legal obligation to inform the affected parties at high risk due to the hack without undue delay, so if your data was compromised, you are likely to have heard by email already.

As Christians, we are called to be generous with our money and to have compassion on the poorest and most destitute in society. One YouGov poll from 2021 found that 76% of practising people of faith in Britain had an intention to give money to charity in the following three months compared to 56% of the irreligious. This greater propensity for the faithful to give money to charities means this hack leaves many Christians particularly vulnerable to future scams and fraud.

Have you ever received a scam call or text message and wondered how they got your number? One of the main ways that scammers obtain a potential victims’ details is through buying stolen data from hacks such as with Beacon on the dark web.

What makes the Beacon hack particularly unique is that it allows scammers to see donation values, which could lead to targeted scam attempts, in particular targeted at those who have given higher amounts.

Fraud and scams are not a modern phenomenon. In fact, the Bible is full of fraudsters: from the snake in the garden, to Jacob stealing his brother’s blessing, to Judas stealing from the common purse. In Proverbs 20:10 we are reminded that “differing weights and differing measures — the Lord detests them both.” And what the Lord detests, the father of lies loves and uses to attack the people of God.

Wise as serpents

Jesus taught His disciples to watch out for scammers, those who “come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly … are ferocious wolves.” In those days, Jesus was speaking about false prophets, but it is applicable to all types of frauds prosecuting God’s people.

The tales the scammers spin, be they fake romances, investments, police investigations, marketplace listings, or text messages from purported family members, are all dressed up to look just real enough to seem plausible but attractive enough to snare us. But inwardly, they only care about your money and will do anything to obtain it.

Jesus tells us: “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” The best defence against a scammer is to think shrewdly and to ask yourself “how could this be a scam?”.

Scammers will often try to pressure you and isolate you to prevent you thinking shrewdly and seeking advice from others; when this occurs, hang up the phone and reach out to friends and family, your church family, or your church leader for advice.

The best defence against a scammer is to think shrewdly and to ask yourself “how could this be a scam?”.

If the scammers are claiming to be your bank, hang up and find the bank’s real number from the back of your bank card and call them later in the day, or visit a branch (if you have one nearby). And remember: no bank, police force, or fraud team will ever ask you to move money to a new account. Act shrewdly to undermine the scammers’ tricks.

Importantly, Jesus says to be as innocent as doves. Often, the people making calls in scam centres are not there of their own volition and are often in conditions of modern slavery in countries such as Myanmar. According to a UN report published this year, an estimated 300,000 individuals are enslaved in South East Asia being forced to carry out these scams. While we should be shrewd and not fall for these scams, we should have compassion on and pray for those enslaved by this dark industry.

If you have been a victim of a scam, you are not alone and have nothing to be ashamed of. Please report it to your bank (call 159 and they will put you through to your bank’s fraud line) and Action Fraud, and talk to your friends and family about it.