No, Bob Thiel does not have a new Facebook page–the deepfake is not me

(Unsplash photo)

Received several messages from contacts on Facebook who have suspected that friend requests that they received supposedly came from me were fake.

Well, they are fake.

While I receive Facebook friend requests multiple times per week, I have not sent out any Facebook friend requests myself to anyone for over a decade.

How can you tell that the request is fake?

For one, the faker has put a dove with an olive branch symbol over a globe on my picture. Notice:

That dove on a globe picture is not on my actual Facebook page.

Furthermore, while I have over 1,000 “Facebook Friends” on my actual page, the fake version of me only had 41 when I checked this morning.

I also have reported this fake page to Facebook. This type of fake, I later learned, is called “catfishing.” Trying to catch someone by pretending to be someone they know or heard of.

As many of you are aware, we have warned about the emergence of deepfakes for some time now. Back in 2021, the Continuing Church of God (CCOG) put out the following video on our Bible News Prophecy YouTube channel:

13:27

Lies and Deepfakes

Jesus taught that God’s prophets would be reviled and spoken evil of. He also warned that the devil was a liar that worked to take the word of God away from those who heard it. The Apostle Paul warned that “evil men and seducers would wax worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived” (2 Timothy 3:13, KJV). He also warned that letters purported from him with false messages were an issue. COG leader Serapion of Antioch denounced a gospel falsely attributed to the Apostle Peter as pseudepigrapha. With the internet, lies can spread faster than before. With technology, like artificial intelligence, can we expect to see deepfakes that will make it look like Christian leaders say or do things that they did not? Do you, “prove all things” so you will not fall from the coming increased deceit? Will YOU hold fast to that which is good or be one who “loves and practices a lie’? Dr. Thiel refers to aspects of modern technology and various scriptures to warn Christians to not be misled by what is coming.

Here is a link to the video: Lies and Deepfakes.

Earlier this year, I was presented with what I considered to be a “deepfake” computer-conversation related to another CCOG leader that I was able to determine could not have happened as it was presented to myself and others. Sadly, however, some preferred to believe the lie.

The Bible warns against:

15 … idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie. (Revelation 22:15)

Jesus once said to some near Him:

44 You are of your father the devil, and the desires of your father you want to do. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him. When he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own resources, for he is a liar and the father of it. (John 8:44)

Whoever is pretending to be me has the devil as his/her father.

Speaking of fakes and Facebook, yesterday I received a Facebook friend request from a name and photo I recognized in the Church of God, so I accepted the request. Then, when this person tried to push to sell me something today on the Sabbath, I realized that this, too, was a fake. So, I “unfriended” her (or him, as with a fake, it is hard to know who sent it).

Many use a variety of techniques to try to deceive.

The Apostle Paul warned:

1 But know this, that in the last days perilous times will come: … 13 … evil men and impostors will grow worse and worse, deceiving and being deceived. (2 Timothy 3:1,13)

Yes, the emergence of various fakes is a sign of the last days.

It is sad that some wish to try to deceive others that way and other ways.

Yet, I believe that this is only the beginning as deepfakes will get worse consistent with the prophecy in 2 Timothy 3:13.

An item of possibly related interest could be:

The Ten Commandments Reflect Love, Breaking them is Evil Some feel that the ten commandments are a burden. Is that what Jesus, Paul, Peter, James, and John taught? For a more detailed discussion of the first four commandments, please see the video The Ten Commandments: Loving God–and here is a link to a related article in Spanish: Los primeros cuatro mandamientos: Amar a Dios. For a more detailed discussion of the last six commandments, please see: The Ten Commandments: Loving Your Neighbor. Here is a link to a related article in Mandarin Chinese SAga‹ëT}f>y:r1ÿÝSÍ‹ëT}v„\1f/ª`vv„