There Ain’t No Flies On Us!

At summer camp I remember teams of kids yelling, “There might be flies on some of you guys but there ain’t no flies on us!”

Well, a few flies have been landing on me so I am making New Year’s Resolutions!

I Resolve:

to put ‘call control’ on my phone. It’s not that I don’t want to talk to you. I enjoy connecting with fellow human beings. But, I don’t want ‘robot’ calls.
to ignore calls if I don’t know who they are from. If it’s you calling, please forgive my rudeness! It’s not directed at you but at those scammers. Scammers are wolves in sheep’s clothing. I want to keep the wolves at bay. Best to hang up before they get me talking. Please, just leave a message and I will call you right back!
to change my voicemail greeting. No longer will you hear my friendly voice telling you how pleased I am to get your call. You will get an unidentifiable AI generated voice, but I shall be delighted to hear your human voice.
to ignore, delete and block phone calls, texts and emails from CRA, my (or any other) bank, UPS, Amazon, Government Agencies, the Police or any other ‘Authority’. I will contact them myself, preferably by driving there and talking to someone in person. When I initiate the call, I am much safer from scammers. By the way I don’t want to use that weak word ‘scammer’. I would rather say ‘evil-doer’, but you may be thinking of a stronger word!
not to panic when a ‘security alert’ high-jacks my computer. I resolve to close the window, take a shower and talk to my son. I resolve to get my emotions of fear, greed and compassion under control. (Scammers love to jerk these heart-strings!)

A scammer deceives us by his/her kindness and assistance, willingly to spend much time to walk us through a ‘problem’ or amazing ‘opportunity’. They plan to distress and hurt us, in order to greedily gain what is not theirs. This is hateful to us and to God. Yet, scammers’ thoughts and deeds do not go unnoticed. God knows who they are. As J.I. Packer says, “I can talk in a way that deceives my fellow-creatures as to what I really am, but nothing I say or do can deceive God”

In time, trickery and crime have a way of catching up on you. You can get away with it for a while, but not for ever. Micah, an Old Testament prophet truthfully says:

‘What sorrow awaits you who lie awake at night, thinking up evil plans. You rise at dawn and hurry to carry them out, simply because you have the power to do so. When you want a piece of land, you find a way to seize it. When you want someone’s house, you take it by fraud and violence. You cheat a man of his property, stealing his family’s inheritance. But this is what the LORD says: “I will reward your evil with evil; you won’t be able to pull your neck out of the noose. You will no longer walk around proudly, for it will be a terrible time.”’

Micah 2:1-3 (New Living Translation)

Even with all these precautions a scammer may take my money and/or information about my identity. But, the riches I have in Christ can never be stolen and God knows me. My true identity can never be robbed from me. A scammer cannot claim to have a clear conscience. My conscience is clear and that is worth so much more than material wealth.

We must band together, have each other’s backs and support one another, even if it means being vulnerable and admitting that we have been duped, so…

I resolve:

to let people know when I have been scammed, to tell the truth instead of hiding in false shame that I was stupid enough to be ‘had’! Let the shame fall on the ones who deserve it.

There’s flies on those guys, for sure, but there ain’t no flies on us!

by Andrea Kidd

If you enjoy my High Country News submissions, please see my substack for more: andreakidd.substack.com

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