{"id":27866,"date":"2026-09-29T16:32:46","date_gmt":"2026-09-29T16:32:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/?p=27866"},"modified":"2026-09-29T16:32:46","modified_gmt":"2026-09-29T16:32:46","slug":"fraudulent-email-prompts-reminder","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2026\/fraudulent-email-prompts-reminder\/","title":{"rendered":"Fraudulent email prompts reminder to verify unexpected messages"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"341\" src=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/09\/Email-safety-notice-banner-1200px-1024x341.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-27867\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/09\/Email-safety-notice-banner-1200px-1024x341.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/09\/Email-safety-notice-banner-1200px-300x100.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/09\/Email-safety-notice-banner-1200px-768x256.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/09\/Email-safety-notice-banner-1200px-560x187.jpg 560w, https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/09\/Email-safety-notice-banner-1200px.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<div style=\"height:30px\" aria-hidden=\"true\" class=\"wp-block-spacer\"><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>By Francie Coale<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Church of the Brethren has received reports of a fraudulent email sent to churches and pastors using the denomination\u2019s name and contact information.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The known version:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Uses the subject \u201cUrgent: Brethren Update\u201d<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Says the sender is the \u201cChurch of the Brethren,\u201d using admin@docupdatedd.org as its email address<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Includes a link labeled \u201cBRETHREN \u2013 UPDATE\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The message is not from the Church of the Brethren. Its link may download software that could allow someone else to access the recipient\u2019s computer remotely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>What to do<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you receive this message, do not reply, click the link, or download or install the file. Mark or report the message as phishing to your email provider and delete it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you downloaded the file but did not open it, delete it and run a security scan on your computer.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If you opened or installed the file, disconnect the computer from Wi-Fi and any wired network. Contact a trusted technology professional before using the device again for email, financial transactions, or other sensitive activity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Recognizing suspicious messages<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In fact, phishing emails are designed to appear trustworthy. They may use familiar names, logos, addresses, or language gathered from public sources. When receiving any unexpected message:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Check the complete sender address\u2014not only the name displayed.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Pause when a message creates urgency or pressures you to act quickly.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Use caution with unexpected links, attachments, downloads, or requests for information.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Verify an unusual request by calling or emailing the real person using official contact information\u2014not through the information provided in the message.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Report the fraudulent or scam email to your email provider by marketing it as junk or spam. (Some providers even have a \u201creport phishing\u201d option.)<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>For email scams impersonating the Church of the Brethren, Inc. and\/or our staff, also notify us at <a href=\"mailto:cob.info.technology@brethren.org\">cob.info.technology@brethren.org<\/a>.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>Stay attentive<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Phishing and scam messages can be convincing. If you interact with one, don\u2019t hesitate to ask for help. Reporting incidents can help us protect one another as a community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>\u2014Francie Coale is the director of Information Technology for the Church of the Brethren.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8212;&#8212;&#8212;-<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Find more Church of the Brethren news:<\/p>\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__list wp-block-latest-posts is-layout-flow wp-block-latest-posts-is-layout-flow\"><li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2026\/fon-legliz-fre-yo-anonse\/\">Fon Legliz Fr\u00e8 yo anonse d\u00e8nye sibvansyon yo<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2026\/los-fondos-de-la-iglesia\/\">Los fondos de la Iglesia de los Hermanos anuncian sus \u00faltimas subvenciones.<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2026\/fraudulent-email-prompts-reminder\/\">Fraudulent email prompts reminder to verify unexpected messages<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2026\/un-correo-electronico-fraudulento\/\">Un correo electr\u00f3nico fraudulento solicita un recordatorio para verificar los mensajes inesperados.<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a class=\"wp-block-latest-posts__post-title\" href=\"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/2026\/imel-fo-ki-raple-ou\/\">Im\u00e8l fo ki raple ou verifye mesaj inatandi yo<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Church of the Brethren has received reports of a fraudulent email sent to churches and pastors using the denomination\u2019s name and contact information.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":27868,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"yes","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1703],"tags":[3920,3902,3919,1829],"wf_post_folders":[],"class_list":["post-27866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-church-of-the-brethren-newsline","tag-email-scam","tag-feature","tag-fraudulent-email","tag-scam"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27866","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27866"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27866\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27869,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27866\/revisions\/27869"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27868"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27866"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27866"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27866"},{"taxonomy":"wf_post_folders","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.brethren.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/wf_post_folders?post=27866"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}