From the beginning, we are taught to be cautious, and most of us have become adept at spotting scam SMS messages, emails involving that unfortunate Nigerian prince living in exile, dodgy investment pitches and fake Microsoft Support calls.

More frequently however, there are reports of social media ‘hacked accounts’ where connection requests come in from a hacked or duplicate account that appears to be a Freemason well known in our community.

Mirroring some of the content of the original account and photos of the Freemason to gain recognition, these accounts further gain momentum when real Freemasons connect to the fake account and open a vector to further intrusion to our network using the real connections for credibility.

To address this, it is obviously important to undertake a diligent review of the connection request to ensure that “he is, or they are, worthy of that confidence”. Double checking connection requests through an alternate means such as the email, phone or face to face at a lodge event might provide a greater level of confidence in accepting that request and confirming their authenticity.

Additionally, if you are familiar with the contact’s character (grumpy, introverted, grammatically precise), then the nature of what the person has previously posted and their online presence should reconcile with your offline knowledge of them.

If you receive a message from someone claiming to be a Freemason that doesn’t seem quite right, delete it and do not click on any links. Report fake profiles to the relevant social media administration and always maintain that familiar cautious approach to any new conversations.

To see known scams or report a scam head to Scamwatch. You can also report scams via the Federal Government’s ScamWatch website at scamwatch.gov.au

Working together as a group and using the strength of our fraternal connections, we are more likely to be able to protect each other from the encroachment of intruders into our fine community.

WBro. Mark Vincent PJGD
Fairfield Lodge 254.