Scammers impersonate W.S. pastor

A scammer is targeting the Willow Springs community by impersonating the pastor of Westside Family Life Center. Early last week, a member of the church, Debbie Bryan, received unusual text messages from someone, who not only used her name, but the name of her pastor, David Lovan. She knew something was off.

 

“It looks very legitimate,” Bryan said, “except I knew the number was wrong. We don’t have shut-ins, and the language wasn’t the way pastor David would have asked me to do this.”

 

The church contacted the Howell County Sheriff’s Office, and Sheriff Matt Roberts confirmed Thursday that an investigation is ongoing. 

 

“The most important thing is education,” Sheriff Roberts said. “What is unusual is that they are able to use the target’s name.”

 

Both the church and law enforcement hope to raise awareness that there are scams in the local area using the names of churches. 

 

“We do have some people that would have followed the instructions,” Bryan said

 

Sheriff Roberts said the best defense is to ask questions if something seems off. For instance, if someone known to you texts from an unfamiliar number, try calling the old number. If you receive a message that seems to come from an agency like the post office or police, call the agency and inquire. These are common methods of scammers.