In this issue:

• "Perfect Voice" Scam

• Church Pastor Text Scam (this one is personal)

• Data breaches this week

"Perfect Voice" Scam

During a long holiday drive to see family, a familiar topic came up with one of our adult children. We revisited the family “safe word” we created when she was little. Back then, it was meant to confirm identity if a stranger ever claimed to be sent by us. Today, that same idea matters more than ever, but for a very different reason.

AI-powered voice scams, often called vishing, are evolving fast. Criminals can now clone a person’s voice using just a few seconds of audio pulled from social media videos like Instagram, voicemail greetings, or even short clips posted online. With that sample, they can create what sounds like a perfect copy of someone you trust.

The call usually starts with urgency. A family member is in trouble. A child has been arrested. A parent is in the hospital. Or in a work setting, it might sound like your boss asking for an immediate wire transfer or gift card purchase. The voice sounds right. The panic feels real. That emotional pressure is exactly what scammers rely on.

This is where the family safe word comes in.

A safe word is a shared secret that only trusted people know. It is never posted online and never used casually. If you receive a call that feels urgent, alarming, or just slightly off, you ask for the safe word. A legitimate caller will understand. A scammer will not have it.

This approach works well beyond families. Small teams, startups, and even close friend groups can use the same concept. It is especially useful for situations involving money, travel emergencies, or requests to bypass normal procedures.

A few tips for creating a good safe word:

• Choose something easy to remember but not easy to guess. Avoid names, birthdays, or anything tied to social media.

• Treat it like a password. Do not reuse it elsewhere.

• Practice using it. Talk through scenarios so it feels natural to ask.

• Update it if you think it has been exposed.

That holiday conversation reminded me that some of the simplest safety habits we teach kids still matter as adults. The threats have changed, but the solution is familiar. When technology can perfectly mimic a voice, trust needs a second layer. A shared secret might be the easiest and most effective one you can add.

Church Pastor Text Scam (this one is personal)

This week, more than a dozen people from our church received a disturbing text message. It appeared to come from my husband (the pastor) and it asked for “assistance.” The message was polite, familiar, and signed with his full name. It claimed he was in a meeting and needed someone to urgently buy gift cards for women battling cancer. He promised reimbursement later.

It was not him.

This was a scam. A classic gift card scam, but one that felt especially cruel.

What made this incident worse was how personal it was. The scammers clearly knew who to target. They had a list of church members or at least people connected to our church. The most likely source is social media. People who liked or commented on our church Facebook page suddenly found themselves on the receiving end of a message that felt trusted, urgent, and faith-based.

That trust is exactly what the scammers were exploiting.

Impersonating a pastor is not just identity theft. It is an emotional violation. Pastors are often seen as helpers, counselors, and moral guides. Using that role to pressure people into sending money, especially under the guise of helping cancer patients, is deeply upsetting. It damages trust and creates fear and confusion within a community that is built on care and goodwill.

Several red flags were present in the messages:

• A sense of urgency.

• A request to buy gift cards.

• An explanation for why a phone call was not allowed.

• A promise of reimbursement later.

• A generic greeting sent to many people at once.

Still, when a message appears to come from someone you respect and know personally, logic can take a back seat to emotion.

This incident was painful for our family. Seeing my husband’s name used to deceive people who trust him was heartbreaking. It also forced us to warn our congregation, reassure people, and clean up confusion that we did not create.

If you are part of a church, school, nonprofit, or volunteer group, please know this: leaders will not ask you for gift cards, secret purchases, or urgent financial help over text. If something feels off, pause and verify through a known phone number or another trusted channel.

Scammers thrive on kindness and urgency. Communities thrive on trust. Protecting that trust means talking openly about scams like this, even when it hurts to do so.

Data breaches this week

Most of the time these will be companies that you don’t have any personal data with, but scan the names to make sure you aren’t affected.

• Covenant Health, Inc.: 478k individuals: Covenant Health Data Breach Impacts 478,000 Individuals

• Sax LLP (accounting firm): 229k individuals: Top US Accounting Firm Sax Discloses 2024 Data Breach Impacting 220,000

Do you have an idea for a future newsletter? Please reply to this email and let me know.

Thank you so much!

Sincerely,
Cassie Crossley
Founder, Cyber Safe Center
https://www.cybersafecenter.com