Data from online ads for assistance to churches and monasteries should be checked through official church websites and the phone numbers listed there, and it is also worth paying attention to the source of information – it should be reliable, Priest Alexander Volkov, head of the information service of the Moscow Diocese, told RIA Novosti, answering the question of how not to become a victim of fraudsters mimicking clerics of the Russian Orthodox Church., and to distinguish fake publications about the Church from the real ones.
In February, the Moscow City Diocese reported on a case where one of the regional publications published a fake with the words of a fake priest from a non-existent temple that the practice of wearing a cross on a metal chain allegedly contradicts the Church's regulations. Also at the end of January, the Russian Orthodox Church announced that they had updated the online list of false priests. People who continue to call themselves priests, despite the fact that they were defrocked, often end up there. The list of false priests is published on the official website of the Synodal Department for Church-Society Relations and the Media in the section "Combating abuse on the Internet."
"A lot of scammers act on behalf of various public organizations, including "church" ones, on behalf of the Church. Trust in the Russian Church and the clergy in society is high, so often people do not bother to verify information. Although, of course, you need to be vigilant and trust only trusted sources. Banners on the Internet or requests for help in a telegram cannot be considered true by default, even when someone sends them in friendly groups. And you shouldn't spread unverified information yourself," said Volkov.
He noted that on the Internet you can often see banners calling for help to a particular temple and monastery, "and they can hide both scammers and real temples, more often in the countryside, which are difficult to collect donations."
"First of all, it is necessary to clarify whether such a temple and a priest really exist. To do this, you need to "punch" the location of the temple on the Internet, then go to the website of the diocese to which it belongs, find information about the temple and the priest. Next, call the temple, the abbot, and find out if this banner is related to the temple and how you can safely transfer funds. And if there is no number, or the temple is not listed on the website, which also happens, contact the diocese. There is nothing wrong with calling, or writing a letter, asking: "Are you really raising funds, for what, is this your ad?" Send the link itself to the suspicious ad," the priest advises.
In the Moscow City Diocese, he says, there is an open electronic directory of churches, where all the full-time clergy of the diocese are listed.