Scammers Targeting Religious People, Parsippany Police Warn

PARSIPPANY, NJ — Phone scammers are trying a new tactic, pretending to be local religious leaders in order to pray on the faithful, Parsippany police warn.

The scam goes like this: a scammer will text you, claiming to be a priest, rabbi, father, or other type of religious leader. They'll ask you to buy gift cards to benefit someone battling cancer. Once you get the gift card, the scammer will ask you to send them the card number and pin so they can drain the money off them.

In screenshots shared by Parsippany police, a scammer can be seen posing as a Father and asking someone to buy gift cards for Steam, the popular online gaming platform. Once they get the first round of gift cards, they ask for even more.

"Always be wary of any requests that you receive to purchase gift or money cards, which is followed up with a request for you to read off the card numbers/pins to the scammer. They have found that it is much harder to trace gift card usage versus credit card usage," Parsippany police warn.

You can see the text messages, as shared by Parsippany police, here:

All photos provided by Parsippany police