A friend recently had her email password stolen by an Internet thief who promptly proceeded to email everyone on her contact list. I was one and this was our conversation – as you know, Anglicans love to have conversations (name changed to protect the innocent):
Him:
Subject: FAVOR TO ASK……………..GRETTA
Hello,
How are you doing? I need a favor from you. I would have loved to give you a call now however can’t get to call right now, Kindly let me know if you are Online..
Await Your Reply..
Me:
Sure, what do you need?
Him:
Thanks for your response, I need to get google play gift Cards for my nephew, it’s his birthday today and I totally forgot I can’t do this now because I’m currently on a short trip. can you help get from any store around you? l’ll pay you as soon as I am back. kindly let me know if you can handle this.
Thanks
Me:
Yes, of course.
Him:
Thanks so much. Total amount needed is $300 in ($100 increment). Please I will need you to scratch the back of the card to reveal the pin, then take a snap shot of the back showing the pin and have them email to me and I can forward to him.
Me:
OK. What is google play exactly and where do I find a store?
Him:
Google play is a card that is use to download online applications, You can get the cards at any grocery store or pharmacy around you. Just keep me posted once you find it, Okay?
Me:
I don’t have my car at the moment. Can you give me a ride to the store so I can pick up a Poodle Play Card for you?
Him:
I’m not around to do this that what I’m saying.
Me:
Oh, sorry. Where are you then?
Him:
I went on a short trip and I will be back tommorow noon to pay you.
Me:
Ah, OK, got it. Truth is, Gretta, I’m a bit short on cash at the moment but if you give me your credit card number, expiry and PIN, I should be able to get round to the grocery store this afternoon to pick up a Poodle Play Card for you.
And….. no answer. This fellow, neither very bright nor imaginative, was probably a drone working on commission for a criminal organisation. The only favourable thing I can say about him is that he didn’t end up swearing at me. That’s what usually happens.
Ha!
HaHa!
Let’s hope that nobody got scammed by this individual or his outfit.
The best and only way to respond to a hacker is simply NOT to respond to any such message and ensure it is deleted. The same applies to fishing telephone calls — simply hang up and say NOTHING
I get plenty of phishing phone calls. Sometimes they are to my fax no. with distinctive ring. I let the machine take ALL calls, because lifting the receiver tells the fraudsters that you’re alive. I’ve found that eventually the nuisance mostly dries up on this basis. Any genuine caller will leave a message.
Most persistent are the scam messages which ask me for credit card details etc., offer to clean up my PC, warn me of prosecution for unpaid taxes, and so forth. After years of ignoring those I get very few indeed. One must be persistent in one’s turn. I’ve asked my MP to see to it, among all the Liberal causes, that the tel. companies be forbidden to transmit such calls with their often spoofed nos. The technology is certainly available; but govt. is too busy with its ideologies to enforce it. If the tel. companies were made liable for all fraud the abuse would cease like turning off a tap.
It’s a mystery to me why banks that can send money to fraudsters can’t recover it from the self-same people.
V. occasionally a call is a genuine wrong number. Given that I’ve had the same no. since 1971 that is not my fault. I just leave them to try again.
I prefer to make them waste their time. Like this:
https://www.anglicansamizdat.net/wordpress/videos/windows_scam.mp3
Last year I had a delightful chat with a young lady from the “CRA”. I told her my name was Justin Trudeau. It took a good 20 minutes for the truth to dawn on her.
More recently I’ve tried this:
“I have a question for you”. Usually they say “OK”.
“If you die tonight, meet God and he says to you ‘why should I let you into heaven?’, what would you tell him?”
Usually that doesn’t go too well but there was one instance where the person asked me to pray for him and was very receptive to the Gospel message. I was walking down a busy street at the time.
“Render to no (wo)man evil for evil, but contrariwise …”
Good point. Next time a scammer calls you will have to answer the phone and offer money.
Now that’s an interesting evangelistic opportunity!
Life can be fun. Sin has consequences. Words matter. Thank God for voicemail!
Not too long ago, I read I & II Samuel. As David sang his memorial lament for Saul and Jonathan, he three times repeated that “the mighty have fallen” (II Samuel 1:19, 25, 27). David’s respectfulness is an excellent reminder that, even when someone tries to harm him as Saul did David, it is still right to treat him with respect as someone created in the image of God. David saw Saul through God’s eyes, rather than through his own hurt.
Answer a fool according to his folly.
I simply ask them, “Did you know that one day you will answer to God for lying and fraud?” whereupon they usually hang up. I’m trying to do them a good turn by warning them about the eternal consequences of their actions in the hope that the fraudsters will consider their need for God’s forgiveness. Even if they do not repent of their sins and seek forgiveness from the Lord, perhaps they will feel bothered enough to quit their job… that would make the world a better place, too.