Scam, Scam, and I almost Fell For It

All those times I sat with my in-laws or my mom, and talked about how scammers target the elderly. How they should be careful not to listen to smooth talking men on the phone. I thought, “I will be more savvy when I am older.” Pride comes before the fall. Yesterday, Rebecca got a phone call from “Apple Security Alert” saying that one or more of our Apple products was hacked, and that we should speak to a tech to make sure we were safe. 

I spoke to the tech and he told me to go to the settings on my iPad and open the restrictions tab. There is no restrictions tab, of which I had been looking for earlier that day. He told me that I had been hacked and that the tab had been removed. Sounded good. In order to help me I needed to go online, from my desktop, and give him access to my computer. The whole time Rebecca and I cautiously went through the steps he outlined. Before I pushed the submit button I asked him to verify that he was from Apple. He said to look at the customer service number on the Apple website and match it with the number he was calling from. They matched. I was a little more amiable. I went backup to the desktop and put in the code and was ready to press return when caution got the better of us. I told him that the computer had too much sensitive data on it, and that I didn’t want anyone to have, even limit, access. We hung up. I did a google search and found that Microsoft and Apple would never call to tell you that you have a virus. There is no way for them to know. Don’t ever give someone you don’t know access to your computer. I felt so old.

Gullible is another word for trusting, and deception is Satan’s greatest tool. From the beginning, Eve was deceived, and the whole world was plunged into darkness. Paul told Timothy,

Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people and impostors will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. But as for you, continue in what you have learned and have firmly believed, knowing from whom you learned it and how from childhood you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus (2 Timothy 3:12-15).

Darkness clouds men’s eyes, so that they do not come to know the truth. And what is that truth? That salvation comes through faith in Christ. Is sin real, the deceiver says, “no.” Do we need to repent, the deceiver says, “from what?” Is faith enough for salvation, the deciever says, “you need to work harder.” Do I need to live a holy life, the deciever says, “it’s not necessary.” The only way to fight against a scammer is with truth. As Paul told Timothy, “remember and be acquainted with the sacred writings.”

First, have your repented of your sin, and believed that Jesus died for your sins, and that God raised him from the dead. If not, today is a defining moment for you. If you are a believer, are you in the Word of God on a regular basis? Are you grounding yourself so that when the deciever plies his schemes you will be prepared? 

I was sitting in the living room when Rebecca’s phone rang. She came out and said their calling again. “Hang up!” I’m just saying...