Have you, or a family member, ever been the victim of a scam? It can be a terrifying and frustrating event!

Do you remember David’s words in Psalm 118? “The Lord is on my side; I will not fear. What can man do to me?” 

Though David wasn’t having to deal with professional thieves, this wisdom applies today. The enemy would love to paralyze you with fear of the worst. The media makes it easy to become paranoid about thieves stealing your identity, hacking your computer, or draining your bank account. And though all those are terrible crimes, they’re of this world. And this world isn’t our final destination. We must remember our lives, and everything in them, belong to God. He already has the victory, so we have nothing in this world to fear. 

When it comes to protecting yourself against identity fraud, or other scams, there are things you can do to protect yourself. 

Start with these:

• Update your computer and operating system often
• Think critically about anyone asking for your personal information, especially over the phone. Most scammers appear trustworthy, so be careful to guard your information.
• Use complicated passwords. Phrases are much harder to hack, so try to come up with full sayings, instead of words, and use something different for every account. Stay clear of using your birthday, dog’s name, or anniversaries – most of that information is on Facebook, anyway!
• Use an external hard drive or cloud storage to backup your files. If your computer is attacked by malware, you’ll still have access to your files.

Most importantly, remember that “greater is He who is in us than he who is in the world!”

Steward your information and accounts well. But also understand that you are a manager, not an owner…we need not fear!

If you want to learn more about what faithful stewardship means, enroll in Crown’s online MoneyLife Personal Finance Study. The 7-week course will look at every aspect of your finances and help you understand what the Bible says about it all. It has already changed the lives of so many people, and I want you to experience the same freedom.