Freemasons For Dummies: Grand Master Facebook Scam Alert

Sunday, July 08, 2018

Grand Master Facebook Scam Alert

The following message was posted of the Facebook page of the Grand Lodge of Nebraska AF&AM on Friday morning:

Grand Master Facebook Scam Alert

Brethren:

Even the office of Grand Master of Masons is not immune to modern-day internet hackers. I am sending this notification to make you aware that a currently anonymous scammer has created a bogus Facebook account in my name and is attempting to swindle you out of your money in the name of providing Masonic Relief to a fellow Mason. For those of you using Facebook, you know that social media network is fraught with scammers; many of you have had your accounts “hacked” over the years. Last week someone hacked mine and began sending messages and attempting to “friend” various people, including brother Masons. They went on to create a bogus Facebook profile that shows my Grand Master portrait and my 2018 Grand Lodge Officers. DO NOT accept a request or otherwise communicate with this account, which appears to be coming from me. It is not.

Thanks to vigilant brothers, I was made aware of this scam. The scammer had reached out beyond my own Facebook friends list, so even if you and I are not Facebook friends, they may find you. Someone posing as me reached out to brother Masons and asked for assistance setting up a PayPal account to solicit funds for a needy brother from “Sunny Slope Lodge No. 124,” a lodge that doesn’t exist in Nebraska. I hope none of you were victimized by this person; if you were, contact Facebook to report it. If you hear of this occurring in other Masonic Grand Jurisdictions, please let me know. I suspect the scammers are taking advantage of the goodwill of Masons everywhere.

No Grand Master should ever reach out to you asking personally for funds in this manner. If you receive such a request, report it to Facebook immediately and inform the Grand Lodge of Nebraska at (402) 475-4640.

Regards,Patrick D. BargerGrand Master

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Legendary brotherhood
With a mythic past
And a visionary future.

Freemasonry is the largest, oldest and best-known gentleman's fraternity in the world. Historically, it is based on the Medieval stonemason guilds who built the great castles and cathedrals of Europe. Mythologically it is founded upon the building of Solomon's Temple in Jerusalem, as told in the Old Testament of the Bible.

Modern Freemasons likewise use the tools, traditions and terminology of those Biblical stonemasons as allegories for building Temples in the hearts of men, using Solomon as our ideal example of wisdom, justice and faith.

At its core, Freemasonry is simply an attempt to make the world a better place, one man at a time. For each man, it can become as simple or as complicated as he himself desires.

It's said that we are a secret society. We do indeed have secrets—secrets that each individual man has to discover for and about himself.

It's not for everybody. It never has been, and was never meant to be. That's the point.

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Christopher L. Hodapp is the author of Freemasons For Dummies, the international, best-selling introduction to the Masonic fraternity; and Solomon's Builders: Freemasons, Founding Fathers and the Secrets of Washington D.C..

Prior to joining the Masons and becoming an author, Chris spent 23 years as a commercial filmmaker with Dean Crow Productions in Indianapolis.

Since 2009 he has been on the Board of the Masonic Library & Museum of Indiana, and serves as its Associate Director and Treasurer.

As a Freemason, Chris is a Past Master of Broad Ripple Lodge No. 643 and of Lodge Vitruvian No. 767 under the Grand Lodge F&AM of Indiana; he is a member of Indiana's Schofield Lodge 1818 U.D.; and of Internet Lodge No. 9659 in the Province of East Lancashire of the United Grand Lodge of England. Most recently, he served as the Worshipful Master of the Dwight L. Smith Lodge of Research U.D. in Indiana for 2019-21.

In 2018 he was awarded the Caleb B. Smith Medal of Honor by the Grand Lodge F&AM of Indiana for his "distinguished service to Freemasonry in Indiana and worldwide."

Chris is a 33° Mason in the Ancient Accepted Scottish Rite (NMJ), Indianapolis Valley. He is a Past Sovereign Master of Imhotep Council No. 434 of the Allied Masonic Degrees. He is a founding member of Levant Preceptory, a medieval Knights Templar period recreation degree team in the York Rite, and he is an officer of the Indiana College of the Societas Rosicruciana in Civitatibus Foederatis. He belongs to numerous other Masonic appendant organizations.

As a Masonic author, in 2012 he was named as Friar No. 101 in the Society of Blue Friars. Chris was a Founding Fellow of The Masonic Society, and was the founding Editor in Chief of The Journal of The Masonic Society. He was the editor and a contributor in 2004-5 to "Laudable Pursuit: A 21st Century Response to Dwight Smith" by the Knights of the North, a Masonic leadership think-tank focusing on modern lodge solutions. He has written for Indianapolis Monthly, Heredom, Masonic Magazine, Templar History, the Scottish Rite Journal, the Knight Templar Magazine, the Indiana Freemason , the Phylaxis, and numerous other publications.

His most recent Masonic book, Heritage Endures, was published in January 2018 as part of the 200th anniversary of Indiana's Grand Lodge.

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Chris and Alice reside in Indianapolis with their canine companions , Sophie the Flying Poodle and Maxwell, the Idiot Circus Doodle, who have them both answering to basic commands. They can frequently be found alarming the wildlife and dazzling the rustiks in their Airstream trailer as they crisscross the country. Appropriately, their newest books together are RVs and Campers For Dummies, released in June 2021; and RV Vacations For Dummies - 7th Edition, released in June 2023.

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Contact Chris directly to enquire about speaking at your event.

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Sunday, July 08, 2018

Grand Master Facebook Scam Alert

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