Religious robocalls, phone scams, and how to stop them

Your guide to understanding religious robocalls like ‘pay to pray’ scams and how to block them for good.

Whether you follow a religion or not, it’s annoying to receive unsolicited calls or texts asking you to make a donation to a religious organization.

And although some religious robocalls come from legitimate organizations, many others are scammers posing as religious leaders or people with some kind of faith affiliation. They use harassment tactics to defraud innocent people over the phone.

Scammers know that victims often feel awkward saying they don’t want to donate and can feel pressured to “do the right thing,” so fraudsters take advantage to siphon money from well-meaning people.

Sadly, these kinds of phone scams aren’t new, and our research suggests that these malicious tactics will continue to rise:

• 54 billion spam calls were made in the U.S. last year, with 25% of all calls identified as spam.
• 11.7% of spam calls were religious scams.
  
• Americans received a total of 9.4 billion spam texts between January to April 2020, an average monthly growth rate of 16%.

While all robocall scams and unwanted text messages are maddening, religious scams are particularly sinister because they manipulate people’s emotions and prey on their beliefs.

Don’t let scammers turn your faith against you and con you into giving money to a fake cause. Here, we’ll help you identify the different types of religious robocall and text scams, understand what protections the law has against them, and offer the best tools for stopping them.

What are religious robocall and text scams?

A religious robocall or text scam is when a person masquerades as a religious figure or entity and tries to extract money or personal information from you.

There are a few different types of religious scams, but all have the same goal: to extort you.

One example of a religious robocall scam is a pay-to-pray scam perpetrated by Hope and Prayer Center Ministry in 2019, in which a pre-recorded message stated that the organization was calling to offer “urgent prayer.” Callers who pressed one to receive prayer would receive a second automated call asking for a donation to the ministry that forwarded to a service in charge of collecting payment.

Here’s what religious scam calls might sound like:

Religious text scams, meanwhile, employ similar tactics, just in the form of unwanted text messages.

One example is a scam that targeted faith-based communities in different parts of the country in 2020. Local churchgoers were receiving texts from someone claiming to be their pastor and asking for assistance in purchasing gift cards that would be used toward funds for someone in need, like a cancer patient.

Recipients of the spam text messages would be asked to send photos of the gift card so the “pastor” could use the funds for the patient. Then the scammers would take the money and run.

Here’s what religious scam texts might look like:

Types of religious phone scams

Let’s go over some of the most common types of religious phone scams to watch out for.

‍Imposter Scams
‍An imposter scam is a common type of religious phone scam. This is where someone impersonates a person you trust — such as a pastor, rabbi, priest, or imam — usually even spoofing your area code so that it looks like the call or text is local, or spoofing the number of the organization they claim to represent.

They’ll try to convince you to make a “donation” with your credit card to a place of worship or toward a cause, or they’ll ask you to buy a gift card for someone in need, then ask for the gift card number and PIN on the back of the card.

‍Pay-to-Pray Scams
‍Another form of a deceptive religious scam is a “pay-to-pray scam,” which misleads unsuspecting people into paying for prayers.

One of the most widespread examples of a pay-to-pray scam has its roots around 2013: A televangelist calling himself “Prophet Manasseh” engaged in a relentless robocall scam in which he appealed for people to donate a “victory” or “releasing seed” to receive financial rewards from God.

Because of his incessant calling, Yakim Manasseh Jordan has been sued some 20 times in federal court by plaintiffs across the U.S. for violation of the Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA). One plaintiff accused Jordan of calling him 300 times.

Thank-You Message Scams
‍Thank-you message scams are pernicious because they are thanking you for making a donation, preying on your kindness and lowering your guard to make you think you’ve already been in contact with the organization.

If you engage with the thank-you message, the scammer will then employ a tactic to get financial information from you. This may be offering you some kind of reward that they’ll say can be sent to your bank account if you provide the number, or soliciting “another” donation by way of gift card or wire transfer — both of which are extremely difficult to trace.

As with many religious scams, the call or text will likely come from a spoofed number to look like it’s from your local area code, and the scammer will probably use a name similar to that of a real religious or charity organization.

‍Read more: How to stop spam text messages

What protections does the law have against religious scams?

Any attempt by scammers to steal from you or solicit donations using false claims is illegal.

Legally, fundraisers are allowed to call you on behalf of charities, even if your telephone number is listed on the National Do Not Call Registry. When these charitable fundraisers call you, they must follow the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR), which includes stipulations like:

• They can’t call before 8 a.m. or after 9 p.m.
• They have to state their identity and the organization on whose behalf the call is being made, and whether they’re calling to solicit donations.
  
• They can’t use a robocall or prerecorded message to reach you unless you’ve donated to the charity in the past or are a member of the organization.
• They cannot make false or misleading statements to persuade you to donate.
• They can’t misrepresent information during the call, such as the fundraiser’s connection to the charity, the charity’s mission or purpose, whether a donation is tax-deductible, or how a donation will be used or how much of the donation actually goes to charity programs.
• They must honor any requests you make to not be called again.
• They also can’t call you again if you tell them that you don’t want any more calls from that charity.
• Their caller ID must show the name of the charity or fundraiser, along with a number that you can call to ask to be placed on their do not call list.

Because scammers operate outside the law, they rarely follow these rules.

Unfortunately, scammers will go to great lengths to convince you they’re from a legitimate organization, making it difficult to distinguish between religious scams and honest fundraisers.

How to tell if a religious robocall is a scam

As a rule, it’s smart to be wary of anyone saying they’re a religious leader or requesting donations for a place of worship. Really, it’s wise to be suspicious of anyone requesting money from you via call or text until you can do further research.

Caller ID spoofing can make it difficult to weed out scammers from legal callers. You can’t just look at the phone number — scammers have access to technology that allows them to fake the number they’re calling from.

To pick out religious text and robocall scams, here are 5 warning signs to look for:

• The person or organization doesn’t identify themselves. Even if they do provide identification, it could be fake, and they may be spoofing their number.
• The offer sounds too good to be true. Rewards, prizes, or eternal blessings, for example, in exchange for money.
  
• There’s urgency to donate immediately, and/or some kind of consequence if you don’t. Never let anyone pressure you into making a donation on the spot. When in doubt about the caller’s credibility, end the call and do some research before giving.
• Spelling or grammatical errors in texts are common among scam messages.
• You’re asked to donate or give money in a specific way, such as via wire transfer or by putting money on a gift card, then providing the number and PIN on the back.

If you’re feeling giving and want to make a donation to a religious organization, never respond to religious robocalls or texts. Go directly to your organization of choice, whether via their website or verified phone number listed in the organization’s materials.

How to block scam calls and texts

The most effective method to put an end to religious scams is to use a robocall and spam text blocker.

The FTC recommends third-party robocall blocker apps like Robokiller, which use call data or reports from users, the FTC, and other sources to predict which calls are illegal or likely scams, then intercepts those calls before they ever reach you. Robokiller offers a 90% reduction in spam calls within 30 days.

‍Robokiller is the best robocall blocker on the market not only because it’s 99% effective at preventing spam calls and texts before they ever reach you but also because it’s empowering users to take control into their own hands.

Aside from utilizing a robocall blocker, there are a few actions you can take to mitigate the influx of religious robocall and text scams:

• Strengthen the blocking features on your devices. Many Android phones have built-in options for identifying, blocking, and reporting spam calls; iPhone users can silence unknown callers, which blocks any incoming numbers not saved to your address book.
• Report any religious robocalls or texts you receive to DoNotCall.gov. If you’ve lost money to a scam, or if you have information about a scammer, report it immediately.
  
• Ask fundraisers to put you on their do not call list, especially when the organization contacts you repeatedly. They must provide you with a means to opt out. This approach won’t stop scammers, but it will stop legitimate organizations you no longer want to hear from.
• Use Robokiller’s phone number lookup to see if the number you’re receiving a call from is a known scammer.

If you want to eradicate robocalls entirely, blocking suspicious numbers one by one is a hopeless endeavor, and scammers will just keep trying with new numbers and aliases.

Robocall blocker Robokiller is your first line of defense against religious scams and unwanted text messages.

How does Robokiller work?

No one deserves to be harassed by scammers. Robokiller helps you take back control of your privacy (and sanity) using A.I. and machine learning.

Spam calls are blocked automatically. Instead of just using consumer feedback or caller ID, Robokiller identifies the caller or texter behind the message by leveraging a global database of more than 300 million unique scammer phone numbers. Untrustworthy numbers are added to a Global Blacklist of spam numbers, which is updated daily.

To identify spam texts, Robokiller analyzes the metadata to look for common characteristics of spam texts, anonymizing and removing identifiable information like your name and number, Numbers are cross-referenced against a database of untrustworthy texters to monitor for illegal activity, and if the app determines it’s spam, it blocks it.

Don’t let scammers tie you up in their schemes and take advantage of your generous nature. Put them out of business, protect your finances, and enjoy some peace of mind with Robokiller.

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