To the Editor:
Thanks to the Elizabethton Star for the Our View, “Something needs to be done about robo and scam phone calls.” I couldn’t agree more that these calls are annoying and it makes me angry to hear about people losing money to their scams. It makes me angry that they target older adults. Don’t be a victim. Be suspicious and remember the saying, “If something seems too good to be true — it probably is.” According to www.fraud.org scammers are now using the internet as their number one way to find victims. The following are the top ten scams of 2018 according to the website. 1. Internet: general merchandise sales where goods purchased are either never delivered or misrepresented. 2. Prizes, sweepstakes or free gifts requesting payment to claim fictitious prizes, lottery winnings, or gifts. 3. Fake check scams where consumers paid with phony checks for work or for items they’re trying to sell, instructed to wire money back to buyer. 4. Recovery or refund companies where scammers contact victims and claim they owe money on a fictitious debt or offers to recover money lost in a previous scam. 5. Advance fee loans and credit arrangers use false promises of business or personal loans, even if credit is bad, for a fee upfront. 6. Phishing or spoofing are emails pretending to be from a well-known source asking consumers to enter or confirm personal information. 7. Friendship or sweetheart swindles happen when a con artist nurtures an online relationship, builds trust, and convinces victim to send money. 8. Computers, equipment and software scammers claim to offer “technical support” for computer problems and charge a fee to fix a nonexistent problem. 9. Scholarship or grants for a fee are offered by a “search company” to conduct a search for scholarships or grants for students and scammers take money and run or provide a worthless list. 10. Family and friends imposters scam is where a scammer calls or emails, claiming that a friend or family member is in distress (in jail, in the hospital, etc.) and urgently needs funds to help.
Pastor Steve Cloccolanti said the number one sign of evil people in these end times is lying and misleading people. Evil people enjoy others’ pain and it’s sport for them to lie and do evil. Because of the lack of morals and all the lying in America even by the major media, parents more than ever should teach their child logic and not to believe everything they read or hear. Students must learn critical thinking and turn up their baloney detector and as the Bible says in 1 Thessalonians 5 “test everything; hold fast that which is good.” When asked about the last days Jesus said, “Take heed that no man deceive you.” We are seeing more deception than ever before. Christians should pray for discernment and follow the Bible and they won’t be deceived and will be the best critical thinkers. Proverbs says don’t jump to conclusions, get all the facts and get advice before making decisions. Charles Spurgeon said, “Discernment is not a matter of simply telling the difference between right and wrong; rather it is telling the difference between right and almost right.” Question everything. The only news that I would stake my life on that is completely true is the good news of Jesus! Jesus is true news, the best news ever!

D.D. Nave
Elizabethton