Your online church directory is a gold mine for scammers.
One of the most common things we see our churches fall for is a scammer getting access to a directory, impersonating a pastor, and tricking members into giving them money.
The privacy mode option protects your congregation from scammers by not publicly listing emails and phone numbers. Instead, people can reach out to each other with a Contact Me button.
Now, members can browse the directory, put faces with names, and contact each other directly—without the risk of getting scammed!
Privacy Mode Adds a Layer of Protection
The two best ways to protect your church directory is to:
- Not allow anyone access to your directory unless you have met them in person
- Never change someone's email address or phone number without confirming with them first.
Privacy mode is an additional layer of protection by removing the scammer’s incentive to get into the directory.
So even if an admin mistakenly lets a scammer in, they won’t be able to harvest your congregation’s information.
Based on the feedback we received from the many churches victimized by these scammers, we believe this is the safest and best option for most of our churches, and will enable it automatically.
You Can Disable Privacy Mode (but please don’t)
If you would like to disable privacy mode, you can do so in the advanced settings section of the Church Center settings screen.
But we strongly encourage you to leave it on to protect your congregation from this scam.
If you have any questions about this change, please reach out. We are more than happy to provide more information and to help you make the best decision for your community.
💙 Planning Center