Oklahoma Church's Bank Account Hacked

Immanuel Southern Baptist Church tightens protocols after over $85K drained from accounts

Published on Feb. 13, 2026

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A church in Wagoner, Oklahoma had over $85,000 drained from its bank accounts by hackers, prompting the church to tighten security protocols. The theft was discovered during choir practice, and the church immediately reported the fraud to the bank and police. The investigation is ongoing, but one possibility is that a keylogger program was secretly installed. The church has since wiped its laptops and created new accounts, and is working to recover the stolen funds.

Why it matters

This incident highlights the growing threat of cybercrime targeting religious organizations, which often have significant funds in their accounts to support their operations and ministries. The breach at Immanuel Southern Baptist Church underscores the importance for all churches to have robust cybersecurity measures in place to protect their financial assets from potential hacking attempts.

The details

On February 8th, the treasurer of Immanuel Southern Baptist Church in Wagoner, Oklahoma discovered that the church's bank account had been drained of over $85,000. The funds had been siphoned through 16 suspicious withdrawals ranging from $87 to over $15,000, which were tagged to a fictitious gutter company in Indiana. The church immediately reported the fraud to the bank and police, and changed its password, but that didn't prevent the remaining $20,000 in the account from also being stolen before the bank's fraud department could intervene. The investigation is ongoing, but one possibility is that a keylogger program was secretly installed on the church's computer system.

  • On February 8th, the church treasurer discovered the theft during a routine monthly account check-up.
  • The church reported the fraud to the bank and police on February 8th, a Sunday.
  • The remaining $20,000 in the account was stolen on Monday, February 9th, before the bank's fraud department could intervene.

The players

Immanuel Southern Baptist Church

A church located in Wagoner, Oklahoma that had over $85,000 drained from its bank accounts by hackers.

Rick Boyne

The pastor of Immanuel Southern Baptist Church since 2007.

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What they’re saying

“Pastor, we've got a problem.”

— Church Treasurer (Baptist Press)

“I never thought this would happen to us.”

— Rick Boyne, Pastor, Immanuel Southern Baptist Church (Baptist Press)

“Utilize multi-factor authentication whenever possible, especially on email and financial accounts. Also, avoid allowing employees to access sensitive accounts through unprotected or public internet connections, such as coffee shop Wi-Fi or networks without a password.”

— Brandon Waldeck, Director of Enterprise Risk Management, GuideStone Financial Resources (Baptist Press)

What’s next

The church is working with the bank and police to investigate the incident and recover the stolen funds. The FBI is also involved in the investigation.

The takeaway

This breach at Immanuel Southern Baptist Church underscores the critical need for all churches to prioritize robust cybersecurity measures to protect their financial assets from potential hacking attempts. Implementing multi-factor authentication, restricting access to sensitive accounts, and providing employee training on identifying suspicious activity are all important steps churches should take to mitigate the growing threat of cyberattacks.