Several
things have happened lately that have reminded me of Jesus’
warning in Matthew 7:15:
Beware of false prophets,
which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are
ravening wolves.
We
live in a time where we probably encounter these wolves every day of
our lives, unless you decide to spend the day in bed with your head
under the covers. Here are just a few examples from the past few
months.
Fluffy
and I have been on Facebook for a couple of years. We resisted it
for many years, but kept getting emails from people inviting us to be
their Facebook friends. All things considered, we enjoy the Facebook
experience. It has brought us closer to family, friends, church
folks and other groups that we support and enjoy.
We
probably get on Facebook once or twice a day, but sometimes go for
days without looking at it. We are not the kind of Facebook people
who document our daily lives there. If you want to find out when we
use the restroom, you will not find that out on Facebook.
One
morning Fluffy turned on his computer to find a couple of strange
questions sent via email. “Did you really win $100,000 in the
DC Lottery?” asked one. Another email asked “Did you
send me a Facebook friend request? I thought we were already
friends.”
About
that time the phone rang. It was some friends warning us that Fluffy
was being spoofed on Facebook. Somebody had opened a new account
using the same name as his. They even stole his picture from
Facebook and used that for the account picture.
We
didn’t even realize you could have two accounts with the same
name, but we guess Facebook allows that (good news for all you John
Smiths out there).
Then
the perpetrators sent out friend requests to all of the friends that
Fluffy already had. Those who were unlucky enough to accept those
requests then started getting messages “from Fluffy”
inviting them to play the lottery or help out a Nigerian prince
willing to share a fortune.
Our
friends on the phone had realized what was happening, and decided to
have a little fun with the fake Fluffy. They responded to his
messages and tried (without success) to get a phone number or address
from him.
Fluffy
did some research on Facebook, and filed a complaint against the new
account. There was even a complaint category of “someone is
impersonating me,” so this must be something that happens quite
often. Within an hour, the new account had disappeared.
The
second “wolf” experience also happened on Facebook. We
were not involved with this one, but did read about it after the
fact. In this case the wolf was not trolling for money, but was
just having a little fun at the expense of others. We had to admit
that it did give us a chuckle.
Like
many businesses, the Target stores have a Facebook account. They use
it to advertise sales and new items and to get feedback from their
customers. But someone else (with no connection to Target) opened a
new account named “Ask Target,” and used the familiar
target logo as the picture associated with the account.
“Ask
Target” then visited the official Target area on Facebook,
leaving snippy responses to the comments of other Target customers as
though he were a bona fide Target representative.
If
someone complained about the quality of a product or service, the
fake Target representative would give a helpful response like this
one: “Maybe you are too stupid to shop at Target, and you
should spend your money somewhere else.”
Needless
to say, “Ask Target” is hardly a great ambassador for the
Target name. He does provide a little entertainment for people
visiting the Target website, however. The people who suspect that
“Ask Target” is not legitimate get a little enjoyment out
of his shenanigans. The people who believe he is a legitimate Target
employee provide the entertainment by getting angrier and angrier at
“Ask Target’s” comments.
My
last “wolf” example happened just yesterday. Someone
left an “urgent” message on our phone that we needed to
call him back toll-free at a number with an 876 prefix. There was
something familiar about that prefix, so Fluffy decided to do some
research before returning the call. Sure enough, Wikipedia gave us
the real scoop:
The 876 area code
(Jamaica) has been linked to a form of telephone fraud known as the
"one ring scam." The person perpetuating the scam calls the
victim via a robo-dialer or similar means, sometimes at odd hours of
the night, then hangs up when the phone is answered with the hope
that they will be curious enough to call the number back.
When the victim does
this, an automatic $19.95 international call fee is charged to their
account, as well as $9.00/min thereafter. Similar scams have been
linked to Grenada (area code 473), Antigua (area code 268), the
Dominican Republic (area code 809) and the British Virgin Islands
(area code 284).
President
Ronald Reagan used the phrase “trust but verify” when he
was in the process of negotiating arms agreements. That is probably
a good motto for those of us who live in the age of cross-dressing
wolves. We try not to be cynical or negative in our dealings with
others. But sometimes a little research can save a lot of grief when
that little bell starts ringing in our heads.
I
will close, as I opened, with a quote from Jesus:
And fear not them which
kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him
which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell. (Matthew 10:
28)
I’ve
met wolves who have stolen my money. That annoyed me and made me
less trusting, but I do not fear them. But we should all fear those
wolves who covet our souls, and use their dangerous ideas and
philosophies to lead us gradually but relentlessly down to hell.
Kathryn H. Kidd has been writing fiction, nonfiction, and "anything for money" longer than
most of her readers have even been alive. She has something to say on every topic, and the
possibility that her opinions may be dead wrong has never stopped her from expressing them at
every opportunity.
A native of New Orleans, Kathy grew up in Mandeville, Louisiana. She attended Brigham
Young University as a generic Protestant, having left the Episcopal Church when she was eight
because that church didn't believe what she did. She joined The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints as a BYU junior, finally overcoming her natural stubbornness because she
wanted a patriarchal blessing and couldn't get one unless she was a member of the Church. She
was baptized on a Saturday and received her patriarchal blessing two days later.
She married Clark L. Kidd, who appears in her columns as "Fluffy," more than thirty-five
years ago. They are the authors of numerous LDS-related books, the most popular of which is A
Convert's Guide to Mormon Life.
A former managing editor for Meridian Magazine, Kathy moderated a weekly column ("Circle of Sisters") for Meridian until she was derailed by illness in December of 2012. However, her biggest claim to fame is that she co-authored
Lovelock with Orson Scott Card. Lovelock has been translated into Spanish and Polish, which
would be a little more gratifying than it actually is if Kathy had been referred to by her real name
and not "Kathryn Kerr" on the cover of the Polish version.
Kathy has her own website, www.planetkathy.com, where she hopes to get back to writing a weekday blog once she recovers from being dysfunctional. Her entries recount her adventures and misadventures with Fluffy, who heroically
allows himself to be used as fodder for her columns at every possible opportunity.
Kathy spent seven years as a teacher of the Young Women in her ward, until she was recently released. She has not yet gotten used to interacting with the adults, and suspects it may take another seven years. A long-time home teacher with her husband, Clark, they have home taught the same family since 1988. The two of them have been temple workers since 1995, serving in the Washington D.C. Temple.
