An Alert and an Update to My Book

I received an interesting email yesterday, supposedly from our interim pastor who is resigning his post, and then leaving for three months to travel in Europe. Since his last day was Monday, it wasn't too odd that he requested help.

When asking how to help, the response was to purchase two $100 gift cards that he wanted to give, but had no time to buy himself. Okay, that could be plausible, but then the request was to acquire the PIN on the cards and email them to him. BINGO! Scam alert!

I, and a number of other members of the congregation immediately realized this was phishing. My main concern, however, was for those who may have received the obviously hacked email, and could possibly fall victim to the scam. Of course, the pastor immediately sent out an email to those he thought most likely to receive the bogus correspondence. but my name wasn't on it so I know there must have been many others who received the email as well. I tried to alert anyone I knew, but I'm now making this scam more public.

On a good note, I just ordered a proof copy of my next book, and if all goes well I'll be able to order actual books within two weeks, and it will be available on Amazon as soon as I am okay with the proof. I'm pleased with the content of 80 stories compiled into 241 pages, and grateful to all who shared their experiences. That required courage for contributors, even if it were only to credit their story with initials rather than full name. After all, the name of the book identifies what most of us believe about our own experiences―If It Hadn't Happened to Me...