Ever since the New Year began, my phone has been blowing up with scammers! They come with bold, bald-faced lies of everything and anything they can do to get me to fall for their scheme. “Oh, you can now drive your car again,” said one. Well, I never stopped driving my car, so that one didn’t catch me. “Oh, your order has been sent, so here’s your invoice for $480.” Of course, I didn’t order anything. Most of the time, I delete these things, or I send them off to a website that handles fraud. The problem is, they just keep coming. It is beyond annoying.
2021 showed an increase of nearly 70% in the number of scams being orchestrated by imposters and investment schemers. That amounted to over $5.8 billion. The most common scams were those surrounding Cryptocurrency, rental assistance, tax imposters, and bogus debts. The problem is that the scammers are good. They do their homework, they know where you are vulnerable, know where you live, and have mastered the art of deception. If you want to know what the devil looks like, here he is. He lives behind fake phone calls, computer screens, and any other places where he can get your personal information. The past two years have only increased the numbers of lies and deceivers.
So, why do I bring this up to you? We’ve become immune to fake news, lies, wolves in sheep’s clothing, and countless Internet schemers. We hardly know what the truth is. We are reluctant to trust anyone or believe anything. We are living in the turmoil caused by a double-edged sword in the mouth of technology. The difficulty is that no matter how brilliant we might be, we can still be conned by these deceptive groups. Sadly, they are winning much too often, and once you’ve lost your money to them, they are long gone.
So, all I’m thinking here is that we have to handle this with prayer. We have to be intentional about helping each other recognize the schemers. We have to pray! Pray for wisdom and discernment to handle these things well. Pray for your friends and neighbors that they will not be deceived. Pray for God’s protection for everyone you know, and pray the deceivers develop a conscience.
May God guide you into all truth today and keep you from falling prey to scammers.