Reporting Email/Text/Phone Fraud

The US government has drastically streamlined the process for reporting fraud whether email, text, or phone.  While not every suspicious contact needs to be reported to the FTC (Sam Spam is best handled by reporting it to IT), any email, phone, or text that is trying to get money, gift cards, or PII (Personally Identifiable Information) should be reported by you to them.

When to Report to the Federal Government

A cyber incident is an event that could jeopardize the confidentiality, integrity, or availability of digital information or information systems. Cyber incidents resulting in significant damage are of particular concern to the Federal Government. Accordingly, victims are encouraged to report all cyber incidents that may:
• result in a significant loss of data, system availability, or control of systems;
• impact a large number of victims;
• indicate unauthorized access to, or malicious software present on, critical information technology systems; 
• affect critical infrastructure or core functions; or
• impact national security, economic security, or public health and safety.

What to Report 

A cyber incident may be reported at various stages, even when complete information may not be available. Helpful information could 
include who you are, who experienced the incident, what sort of incident occurred, how and when the incident was initially detected, 
what response actions have already been taken, and who has been notified

Where to Report

• Go to: https://reportfraud.ftc.gov/
• Follow the instructions for reporting an event.  
• The FTC will then analysis the situation 
  • They will give you advice on how to protect yourself, and
  • send the report to the necessary government agencies (like the FBI).

This is so easy that I strongly encourage you to book mark the above webpage so when you encounter someone trying to get your hard-earned money (or the church's), you can easily report it.