Don't Be Scammed

by Adam Kronberger / Head of School

An odd thing happened a couple of months ago at our Parent-Teacher Conferences.  I was standing in our cafeteria visiting with one of our Crosshill families among a dozen teachers and several other families in the large meeting place.  Almost in unison, several fellow teachers all glanced across the room in my direction, first with a look of confusion and then with a look of humor. As I finished my conversation and walked back to my teacher station, several teachers approached with their laptops in tow.  They eagerly shared an email on their screen revealing how a scammer had just emailed them pretending to be me in an effort to build trust and eventually ask for money.  The email was easily a fraud as the email signature did not even have our school name spelled correctly.  Additionally, the body of the email simply asked, “What are you doing right now?”  My fellow colleagues got a kick out of the ultimate fail of sending the probing email when we were all in the same room!

The apostle Peter reveals that the “devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour” (I Peter 5:8b).   Jesus describes there are those in the world who behave as “the thief [who] comes only to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10a).   The apostle Paul explains the spiritual battle we face and to be aware of “the flaming darts of the evil one” (Ephesians 6).  

My fellow colleagues quickly realized that the source of the impersonating email was not me. They are familiar with my communication style and my signature.  And since they literally walk with me daily, they were able to double-check the counterfeit by simply comparing it to the original. Our children are approached almost daily by the schemes of the devil.  He “was a murderer [scammer] from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.  When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he is a liar and the father of lies.” (John 8:44) 

The discipleship training we provide as parents and teachers prepares our children to identify the attack of the scammer.  In order to identify what is false, they must know what is truth.  Make your children aware of these differences over breakfast, when driving around town, as you listen to the radio, as you watch TV, and before bedtime (Deuteronomy 6:7).  CCS teachers receive dozens of emails from me each month, so a random fake is easily identified.  But if the proportion were reversed, deception would follow.  In the same way, may we ensure our children receive regular communication from the Good Shepherd, so they can easily filter out the lies of the world.