Wise as serpents; gentle as doves!

Beware of Scams

Technology continues to develop apace, and new computerised gadgets are always being produced to take advantage of the power of this new technology – the complexity of which seems to leave us behind as we get older! Computers can do almost anything these days and the possibilities seem endless!

As always, the power of technology can be used for good and bad. Computers are being used to great advantage in medicine for example, in the diagnosis and treatment of conditions in ways not possible even a few years ago. Technology is also misused by the greedy. For instance, since the advent of credit and debit cards, unscrupulous criminals seek to defraud us and steal our personal information. We need to be ever watchful.

Over the last week or so, there has been a new scam which the police have alerted us to. It plays on our anxieties about Covid-19. Criminals call over the phone pretending to be NHS staff to tell us we have been in contact with someone who has tested positive for Covid-19, and we need to be tested ourselves. They will say we need to pay to be sent a testing-kit and ask for our card details. But THIS IS A SCAM! The NHS will never ask for payment for any NHS service.

Yes, there are many criminals out there wanting to part us from our money and personal information. But there is no reason to be afraid. We just need to follow a few simple rules:

Never give your personal details, bank account details, or card numbers (definitely never your PIN number or any part of it) to anyone who calls you on the phone

Keep your passwords to yourself, and never set-up new passwords or PINs over the phone

Never respond to a request to call someone back on a premium call rate number like those beginning 09 or 087

Remember your bank or card provider will never ask you for details of your accounts and will never ask you to transfer funds to another account over the phone.

All of the above applies to text messages and email you might receive too.

In a way, we are being advised to be ever suspicious of people and not to be too free with who we trust, especially when it comes to access to our finances and our personal (on-line) security. But that’s no new thing for us as Christian people – we are not called to be gullible! As we remember, we are as sheep amid wolves, so we are to be as wise as serpents while being as gentle as doves (Matthew 10:16). Yes, Jesus is talking about the coming persecution of those who would follow him and spread the word of God’s kingdom. Yet there are still ‘wolves’ in the world who seek to prey on the vulnerable in many ways, using technology for instance, so we need to be ‘wise’ in our dealings with people, as much as we are ‘gentle’ in our mutual support and Christian love for one another. God bless you all.

We continue to pray for Dink E in hospital, he is making progress.

In the wider world we pray for:

The people of the developing world such as India and Brazil where Covid-19 is spreading quickly with devastating effect, and where even basic resources to cope are lacking.

We pray for all receiving intensive care with Covid-19, for those recovering; and for all workers on the front-line.

This time last week the number of people world-wide who have made a full recovery from Covid-19 was almost 3,900,000. Now it is not far off 4,900,000 (as of 23 June).

If you would like to read the Scripture verses at the weekly on-line Sunday service please contact Mike.

Also, let Mike know if you have particular prayer requests (for yourself or others) in these challenging and uncertain times and  If you would like to contribute a prayer, poem or reflection for the weekly Sunday service outline.

Revd Mike Perrott