Facebook fraud: Women’s ministry leader Dianna Hobbs warns of ‘fake page in my name’
Article By Laila Thomas // EEW MAGAZINE
When scam artists see an opportunity to con the public by falsely posing as a trusted influencer on social media, they take it.
The latest to have her name used for personal gain on Facebook is award-winning Christian women’s ministry leader, Dianna Hobbs, who urged her supporters to “report” the imposter immediately.
“Someone has created a fake page in my name. They have taken my photos and are sending messages to others posing as me,” warned the founder of nonprofit organization, Empowering Everyday Women Ministries, Inc. in a Facebook post Wednesday morning.
Hobbs, whose official public profile is verified with a blue check on Facebook, didn’t lash out at the pretender, but instead, expressed that she viewed this as a spiritual attack.
“I rebuke the work of the enemy that comes to be a distraction,” the EEW Magazine President wrote, adding, “DO NOT interact with this person. It is not me. Also, please report this page.”
According to EEW staffers, they began receiving multiple calls and emails from ministry partners alerting them that someone was making requests in Hobbs’ name. Immediately, the ministry team searched for the false page, hoping to identify and stop the creator of it from taking advantage of Hobbs’ trusting support network.
EEW creates and globally distributes free faith-building resources and launches charitable campaigns to help the needy, and relies on donations from supporters. Scam artists often take on the persona of heads of influential organizations for selfish gain.
“I can’t imagine why someone would do that. But I know exactly what motivates deception and manipulation: the work of the enemy,” said Hobbs in a post on her popular blog, Your Daily Cup of Inspiration, titled “Jehovah Nissi fights for you.”
The best-selling author’s blog is named one of the Top 100 blogs for women of faith America and her accompanying podcast was recently recommended by Christianity Today Magazine.
“Whenever we are doing Kingdom work, Satan hates it and will do his best to distract and detract from what God is doing. But he has no power. Not in this or anything else. I have seen the adversary come at me in much worse ways, but whatever he does, the remedy is the same: I call upon the name of the Lord,” said Hobbs.
God must have heard that call. At the time of writing this article, the fake page is no longer available. Perhaps Facebook responded after receiving an influx of complaints and reports.
“Thank you to those of you who have notified me and reported this page to Facebook,” said Hobbs. “I appreciate you.”
Recently, filmmaker Tyler Perry warned his fans not to fall prey to scams circulating on Facebook that are using his name. Over the last few years, posts on Facebook have falsely claimed that Perry is giving away a million dollars, cars, and houses to fans who "like" or "share" the post.
"Stop it, devil,” Perry said in a video with the goal of stopping cons from preying on the unsuspecting.