“Gift Card” Should Set Off Your Scam Alarm, Even If the Email Claims to Be From Your Pastor

Around the holiday season, old scams show up dressed in fake kindness, generosity, and good intentions.

Scammers know this is the time of year when people are softer and more willing to help, so they ask for donations or small favors for someone “in need.” The stories are carefully invented to sound believable: a sick child, a struggling family, a last-minute act of generosity. When these scams work, it’s not only the person who sends the money who loses. Our trust is damaged too, the trust tha