- Feb 5, 2002
- 166,654
- 56,276
- Country
- United States
- Faith
- Catholic
- Marital Status
- Married
- Politics
- US-Others
In the first edition of A Good Man Is Hard to Find and Other Stories, Flannery O’Connor placed the following quote from St. Cyril of Jerusalem at the front of her book: “The dragon is by the side of the road, watching those who pass. Beware lest he devour you.
We go to the father of souls, but it is necessary to pass by the dragon.” I encountered this dragon recently, online.
A few weeks ago, one of my Instagram followers informed me that someone had set up a new account impersonating me. This same person shared a screen shot of the fake account (I was unable to find it through my own search, as the imposter had blocked me), and I was shocked to see how authentic this phony account looked. The imposter copied my profile photo, my bio, many of my pictures, and had over three thousand followers. One would have to look very carefully to notice that there was an extra character added to the end of my name in this fraudulent account, otherwise, you would think it was me.
I notified Instagram of this imposter account through the app, and I asked my followers to beware of it, block it, and report it. But, as days passed, this phony account continued growing in followers and becoming more aggressive in following people who followed me. I received more direct messages from people informing me of the impersonator—this dragon by the side of the road. So I decided to file a formal report.
That evening, I was tired after hearing three hours of confessions, but I easily found the site for reporting imposter accounts to Instagram. I followed the instructions carefully to prove my identity and to expose this dragon as a fraud. I took a photo of myself holding my driver’s license in my hand and submitted it. It didn’t occur to me immediately, but later that night, I suddenly realized that I’d been duped. That website was an imposter too! I just sent a photo of myself holding my government-issued ID to a fake website. I felt sick. I felt violated. And I experienced deep embarrassment for being tricked so easily. Quickly, I called my credit card company, changed all my online passwords, and the next morning, after a terrible night of sleep, I ordered a security service to monitor my online accounts.
Continued below.
www.wordonfire.org
We go to the father of souls, but it is necessary to pass by the dragon.” I encountered this dragon recently, online.
A few weeks ago, one of my Instagram followers informed me that someone had set up a new account impersonating me. This same person shared a screen shot of the fake account (I was unable to find it through my own search, as the imposter had blocked me), and I was shocked to see how authentic this phony account looked. The imposter copied my profile photo, my bio, many of my pictures, and had over three thousand followers. One would have to look very carefully to notice that there was an extra character added to the end of my name in this fraudulent account, otherwise, you would think it was me.
I notified Instagram of this imposter account through the app, and I asked my followers to beware of it, block it, and report it. But, as days passed, this phony account continued growing in followers and becoming more aggressive in following people who followed me. I received more direct messages from people informing me of the impersonator—this dragon by the side of the road. So I decided to file a formal report.
That evening, I was tired after hearing three hours of confessions, but I easily found the site for reporting imposter accounts to Instagram. I followed the instructions carefully to prove my identity and to expose this dragon as a fraud. I took a photo of myself holding my driver’s license in my hand and submitted it. It didn’t occur to me immediately, but later that night, I suddenly realized that I’d been duped. That website was an imposter too! I just sent a photo of myself holding my government-issued ID to a fake website. I felt sick. I felt violated. And I experienced deep embarrassment for being tricked so easily. Quickly, I called my credit card company, changed all my online passwords, and the next morning, after a terrible night of sleep, I ordered a security service to monitor my online accounts.
Continued below.
The Dragon of the Internet - Word on Fire
Scams remind us that we live in a fallen world, but strangely, imposter accounts reveal some important realities about our human condition.
www.wordonfire.org
