Sad Truth Veterans Often Victim of Scams — Dave’s Diary

We at KIT along with 99.9% of our great listeners love and support our military veterans.  We recognize and appreciate the sacrifice they and their families make on behalf this great nation.  We don’t like it when they are disrespected, we get angry when the government doesn’t make good on promises but we go ballistic at the thought of some people taking advantage of them as reported by the Better Business Bureau.

In fact, the Better Business Bureau founded the BBB Military Line in 2004 in part to help educate servicemen and women on avoiding the   most common scams targeting military members :

• Military Website Scam: The most recently discovered of the bunch, this scam involved a phony insurance website touting recently-acquired benefits for Army members. The initial website, which has since been taken down, attempted to collect email accounts and passwords, as well as other vital information.
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• Online Dating Scams: Overseas scammers steal the identities of real soldiers on social networking websites and pose as those military members. The perpetrators build up a story describing their military travails, only to convince unsuspecting victims to send money or goods ranging into the thousands of dollars.
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• Craigslist Discount Scams: Both cars and housing have been the bait for various scams on Craigslist, offering discounted prices upon receipt of a wire-transferred “security deposit.”
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• Injury Scams: These scammers typically call the families of soldiers and “inform” them that their loved one has been injured in combat and needs money for medical bills. However, perpetrators in this category sometimes are simply anti-war activists using the calls as a form of protest as opposed to monetary gain.
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• Military Loan Scams: Military members who have less than perfect credit are becoming victims of flashy offers that typically promise great benefit at a low cost. In reality, however, these offers often contain sky-high interest rates that do more harm than good for military members and typically affect a soldier’s entire family, leaving in its wake years of damage to financial security.

If you have questions or would like more information, contact your BBB at 509-455-4200 or visit BBB Military Line on Facebook, Twitter or their website.