Our veterans deserve a lot of things. Praise. Honor. Security. Respect.
Here’s what they do not deserve: attempts to take advantage of their service. Yet every day, scammers attempt to defraud our veterans of their hard-earned benefits, steal their identity, or take their savings.
Together, we can fight back and take one small step to repay our veterans’ for the service they’ve given and the sacrifices they made.
KNOW THE ENEMY: How Scammers Target Veterans
- VA LOAN SCAMS : Offers to refinance VA loans at extremely low-rates
- UPDATE YOUR FILE SCAM: An imposter, claiming to be from a government agency, attempts to get a veteran’s personal information to “update their File” so they can maintain benefits.
- SECRET VETERAN BENEFIT SCAM: Veterans are told they qualify for “secret” government programs or benefits that offer thousands of dollars—but first they attempt to collect personal information for a fee.
- PENSION POACHING SCAM: Scammers often offer veterans lump sum payments up front, in exchange for signing over all of their future monthly benefit checks.
- AID AND ATTENDANCE SCAM: Veterans (or their family members) receive an offer to move their assets into a living trust so that they can qualify for financial assisted-living benefits
VETERANS MAY ALSO ENCOUNTER GENERAL SCAMS
In addition to scams that specifically target veterans’, there are an abundance of scams aimed at the general public to which veterans are more susceptible. These include: Phishing(attempt to gain access to financial accounts),fake tech-support calls, fraudulent credit card/loan schemes, attempts to “collect” fictitious tax bills, fraudulent charities, investment scams, pyramid schemes, and more.
If you or a loved one has encountered a financial scam in the past 12 months, please help us keep fighting for our veterans by calling 877-908-3360
The information you provide is anonymous and will be used by AARP to prepare research on fraudulent activity affecting veterans. This is not a method of reporting crimes to law enforcement authorities. If you want to report mail related crimes please contact the USPIS at postalinspectors.usps.gov
If you would like to take a survey being conducted by AARP concerning fraudulent activity effecting Veterans, please stop buy the Salem County Veterans Office, to pick up a form to fill out, so they can continue to track fraud trends and warn our veterans.
