Fraud and scams can happen to anyone, whoever we are, whatever our beliefs and however clever or educated we think we are, and it is the victims who are often the ones left with extreme shame and guilt.
Ironically, in this story, it is a media literate teacher, who thinks the influence that mass media spreads through our culture, and the motives and methods employed, make us all victims of a global scam on humanity. But despite her expertise, experience and simple gut-instincts, her husband still falls victim of an elaborate and convincing scam.
It is an interesting read, as it presents both side of this extravagant scam, defrauding a businessman and his family out of his life savings. It shows the sort of lengths a con artist will go to, with high levels of sophistication to cover their tracks, as well as the sort of circumstances that combine to draw people in. I found myself asking if the driving force is the same greed on both sides of the equation?
There is a fairly light touch of faith through the book, although the fraudsters use it at one point as a way of gaining trust, faking shared beliefs to encourage empathy. A strategy that to me echoed Jesus’s temptation in the desert, and a deception that believers need to have discernment over.
The story shows the similarity between complicated frauds and video games, how the web of complicated story lines, plot and characters can drag you in to become embroiled, seduced perhaps. But certainly manipulated and deceived.
There is an underlying theme of whether improved education, especially in the area of media literacy, would help people be more informed, more questioning and hence less likely to be caught by scams. Above all I came away knowing that we need discernment more than ever, as scams are increasingly all around us.
The Folded Lie, by Mary Graf, is available here.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the author, but was under no pressure to provide a favourable review.
