Beware: Bad actors want to steal from veterans

Thieves are working aggressively to steal from veterans, veteran service organizations, veteran nonprofits and government agencies that work with veterans.

It’s a numbers game. If they get one success out of 100 attempts, that’s worth their efforts. Don’t fall prey to their predator tactics.

A post for a veteran service organization received a text from someone claiming to be a Hennepin County veteran service officer and asking for $200. Soon, the CVSO learned the same message was sent to another post. This time, the post shared a screenshot (shown).

In another case, people sat in front of a home in their car for a long time, then knocked on the door and sought knowledge of a veteran who was related to the homeowner. They got angry when it was denied. In yet another, a husband-wife duo at a post’s bar late at night kept asking veterans for their middle names, after hearing their other names. The husband claimed to be an Army veteran. When asked where he took AIT, he said Korea. Clearly, he was a fake.

People who work as veteran service officers at the federal, state and county levels, as well as veteran service organization are quite familiar with calls from masked numbers seeking knowledge of personnel information, especially DD-214s. Some go so far as to claim being nurses, medical staff or first responders, or they claim to be investigators of medical malpractice or negligence.

The American Legion Department of Minnesota is working with the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office to fight claim sharks and fraudulent attempts at personal information of veterans.

• Be smart. Check the email address or phone number, not merely the name of the sender, to see if it is real. Many scammers claim to be from an organization you know or trust.
• Protect the personal information of your loved ones, fellow veterans and their spouses. Scammers will use personal information they have in order to gain more personal information from you. Don’t be fooled by it.
• Veterans have earned the benefit of representation with no cost to the veteran. Do not pay for VA claims when veteran service organizations and county veteran service officers provide claim services for no charge. Contact The American Legion or your CVSO to take advantage of benefits you have earned. You will have a trusted veteran on your side.
• Resist any pressure to act immediately. You always, always have time to think and gain reflection on any topic.

Here is a list of the types of common scammer tactics:

Spoofing: Disguising an email address, social media profile, sender name, phone number or website to convince you that you are interacting with a trusted source.

Phishing: Email sent with the intention of deceiving you to act. Example: You see emails from the department commander, telling you to reply, but you realize it isn’t his true email address.

Smishing: This is phishing via text message. Facebook Messenger is full of this problem. We regularly see it tell us Facebook will cancel our Facebook Page if we don’t act within 24 hours.

Vishing: This is phishing via phone. The caller usually makes recipients believe they will be fined or miss out on an opportunity.

Tell Me About Yourself: During a phone call, the scammer may ask you to verify who you are by asking you to confirm your personal information. Sometimes, they act like they are loan officers or some other trusted position.

To report fraud, visit the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office at www.ag.state.mn.us/Consumber/Scams, or call 651-296-3353 (Twin Cities) or 800-657-3787 (outside the Twin Cities).

The VA has a toll-free Veteran Identity Theft Helpline at 855-578-5492. The VA also provides further tips for fraud prevention at this website: www.va.gov/initiatives/protecting-veterans-from-fraud/.

Kristy Janigo is the commander of the Minnesota American Legion’s 10th District, and Ray Kane is the service officer for The American Legion Department of Minnesota.