Catholic Church Authorities in India Warn of OTP and Donation Scams by Impersonators

Mumbai, June 3, 2025: Catholic Church authorities in India have issued a public warning about financial fraudsters impersonating senior church officials and asking lay Catholics to use online links to join virtual meetings organised by the church, the Free Press Journal reported on June 2. According to the report, the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of India (CBCI) and the Conference of Catholic Bishops of India (CCBI) issued the alert following several complaints from people who reported receiving suspicious phone calls.

Many of these calls—often from individuals with African accents—involved asking recipients to click on suspicious links and share one-time passwords (OTPs), under the pretence of helping them join official online church meetings. Most incidents were reported in Mumbai.

Father Robinson Rodrigues, public relations officer of the CBCI, confirmed that no financial losses have been reported by the recipients of such calls so far, but emphasised the need for caution. “ They (the individuals who received these calls) were cautious. We have not registered any complaint. However, we decided to issue a general warning,” he said.

Rodrigues noted that similar scams have occurred in the past, including incidents where priests’ WhatsApp numbers and social media accounts were hacked and fake donation appeals were sent to members of the Catholic community. There have also been instances of fake social media profiles of priests created to appeal for donations to charitable causes.

The CBCI has urged the public to verify any such communication through official church channels and to avoid responding to unknown numbers or WhatsApp calls, which are vulnerable to hacking.

Source: Free Press Journal