A regional body of The United Methodist Church has been struck by a sophisticated cyberattack, leading to the theft of over $1.6 million by criminals impersonating bank representatives.



A regional body of The United Methodist Church is working with authorities, who have confirmed that more than $1.6 million was stolen in a cyberattack by criminals posing as bank representatives.

New England Bishop Thomas Bickerton of the UMC New England Conference and Treasurer Lonnie Chafin addressed the matter in a joint letter on Aug. 13 after the reported incident took place Aug. 5, The Christian Post reported.

“We are working closely with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Secret Service, our insurance carrier, and specially assigned legal counsel with expertise in serious cybercrimes. This investigation is active and continuing,” wrote Bickerton.

“Internally, our team is working to immediately review all financial and staff policies and procedures to bring greater awareness of what to watch for and how to prevent any further crimes from taking place.”

In the same letter announcing the theft of the large sum of money, it did mention that some of the money had been recovered. Due to "intentional and deliberate efforts," about $200,000 had been recovered throughout the investigation.

“[W]e continue to maintain a deep commitment to ensuring that our Annual Conference will meet all of its financial obligations and conduct our ongoing ministry uninterrupted," the bishop stated.

“The events of last week are a devasting [sic] blow that has shaken the Finance Team and our entire Conference Staff to their cores,” he added. “Yet we remain committed to the difficult work that lies ahead.”

Bickerton and Chalfin have since issued another letter, providing further updates on the investigation into the theft of more than $1 million from the organization. That letter added that they were not the only victims of similar crimes.

In their second letter about the large-scale, devastating financial crime, they stated, “we are not alone in facing this type of crime,” and went on to point out that three companies experienced similar thefts during the same week as the cyberattack on the conference.

“As the online world has grown increasingly evil and sophisticated in the manner in which that evil is carried out, my sense of helplessness has increased,” the bishop wrote last week. “It has left me with nothing more to offer than an earnest plea that God will help us find our way through this tragedy.”

Bickerton likened the ordeal to the biblical account in Nehemiah 2, in which Jewish leader Nehemiah planned to rebuild the walls of Jerusalem after it was destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BCE, resulting in the exile of God’s people, Israel, due to their sin of idolatry.

“The story of Nehemiah reminds us that rebuilding broken walls takes more than just prayer and contemplation, more than just course correction and deep analysis,” Bickerton added. “Rebuilding what has been lost requires leadership and shared responsibility.”

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