Does Your Mind Have Fraud Protection?

So, have you ever been or have you ever known someone who has been a victim of fraud?  You know, had their credit card number stolen or their bank account hacked or their social security number breached?  It is all quite real and it is all quite unsettling.  Now, have you heard the term “fake news”?  Think about it – fake news is fraud as well, since in its reporting we are led to believe something is true that isn’t.  This phenomena is quite real and it is quite unsettling.  Now, have you ever taken something from work that is not yours or “padded” an expense report or “forgotten” some income on your tax return?  These things are also fraud – they are quite real and they are quite unsettling.  The bottom line is, fraud is everywhere and we as Christians can be victims of it and we can also perpetrate it. So, what do we do?  How do we keep fraud from being a part of our lives? As a Christian, thinking about fraud is disturbing enough but thinking about being a perpetrator of fraud should really make us ask how this can be so.  How is it that I need to be on my guard against doing something that is so far removed from my Christian principles?  The answer to these questions can be easily summed up in one word...subtlety.  Because we have access to so much with such ease, because we have the ability to be pretty much anywhere in the virtual world with anonymity and because our culture has made most everything acceptable, we are faced with the opportunity to be fraudulent in a thousand ways with almost no external accountability.  Subtle. In the fraud prevention world there are three basic steps that should be taken by consumers who seek protection.  They are MONITOR, COUNSEL and RESTORE.  Many companies tell us that if we trust them for our fraud protection they will enact these steps on our behalf.  These three steps are not only in place to help prevent fraud, but they assume fraud will happen and are in place to fix an inevitable problem, as every fraud prevention company knows that no one can prevent all fraud. What if we took these three steps and applied them to our personal experiences?  What if we decided to MONITOR – to look into and around our decision making and determine where weaknesses might be lurking that would tempt us to engage in some action that compromises our highest values?  What if we decided to seek COUNSEL – to look outside of our own thinking and interpretations to find solid input and advice that can “keep us honest"?  What if we decided to RESTORE - to be truly committed to making and keeping our actions on a level of the highest integrity? Check out our May 15, 2017 podcast, “Does Your Mind Have Fraud Protection?” and not only learn what three ingredients need to be in place to perpetuate fraud but more importantly learn the many ways we can truly protect ourselves from getting into fraudulent situations in the first place.  MONITOR, COUNSEL and RESTORE – why not start now?