There has been a rise in e-mail scams that appear to come from Pastors or other religious leaders and may be sent to parishioners asking for gift card contributions for some worthy cause. These scam messages are now coming by text and phone as well as email. The scammer will ask the parishioner to send them the card number and pin. Once that is done, the money is gone.
The following link will open a document with the Federal Trade Commission with contact information for the most common gift card types asked for as well as links to report any messages you may received. Remember, this is a scam.