by Joanne Wiklund
My morning routine includes checking my cell phone for what is called Trending Stories. I have also begun to catch the CBS News occasionally. This morning they featured a story about scammers who are hitting Americans online. Romance and friendship are offered and often result in hours and hours spent with the romancer.
One person was shown to be a woman, in a romantic online relationship with a victim. The perpetrator was actually being held hostage in a house in the East overseas where his “job” was to pretend to be the woman who spent hours online. They cleaned this grandpa out financially with Crypto currency. It destroyed his life which he ended.
I know nothing about how this works. But the scamming is getting bolder and bolder. Last year scammers took over billions of dollars from unsuspecting Americans, many of whom are lonely seniors, both men and women. We need to find ways to bring seniors who are sheltering in place support and Christian friendship. Telephones are so important to them right now. Call someone today.
The link with the outside world that Social Media offers to people shut in at home is good in so many ways. Seeing new babies, weddings, nature’s wonders, local gardens, all these things work to brighten days dimmed by no contact with others or the outside world. But we have to be so careful when using these computers for good things, not bad. These particular scriptures can bear repeating.
Psalm 37:1-3 “Fret not thyself because of evildoers, neither be thou envious against the workers of iniquity. 2. For they shall soon be cut down like the grass, and wither as the green herb. 3. Trust in the Lord and Do Good; so shalt thou dwell in the land, and verily thou shalt be fed.”
Luke 12:12 “Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.