It is a fact of human nature that most people are quickest to trust
"one of their own." In too many cases, someone sitting in a church
pew implicitly trusts the person sitting right next to him. After
all, if they are side by side in prayer, why worry about doing
business?
Tell that to the 11,000 investors who lost more than half a BILLION
dollars to the Southern Baptist Foundation in a scheme that went on
for decades.
Or tell it to the members of Crossroads Church in Corona,
California, who kissed a combined $50 million goodbye.
Or those who lost $3 million to a real estate scam perpetrated on
members of the Daystar Assembly of God Church in Prattville,
Alabama. (Members of the church were promised that profits would go
to build a megachurch, but all they got was a megascam.)
Or tell it to the thousands who were defrauded of $500 million
dollars by the leaders of Tampa-based Greater Ministries
International -- who claimed that investments were blessed by the
Lord.
It's not unusual for the con to begin with the fraudster making a
sizeable donation and weaseling his way into the inner circle. Then
he gets the Pastor to invest, and that swings open the doors to
members of the congregation.
All denominations are at risk, but investigators will tell you that
the most susceptible communities are the ones with the most active
members. If a church has many service programs and small group
prayer sessions, con artists can more easily get close to and become
friends with their fellow church goers. Sadly, these one way
friendships sometimes extend beyond the fraud. "Let's not report
Brother Bob to the police. We all know that he is too devout to do
anything dishonest, so this must have just been an unfortunate
error."
Here's some websites:
Scams Use Name of God to Con Christians - USA Today
Trinity
Foundation
Securities Administrators Association