« Wounded Soldier Reaffirms Commitment To Fight | Main | Clay Pigeon To Be Used To Defeat The Will Of The American People »
June 19, 2007
Military Spouses Targets of ID Thieves
Military families the target of 'Red Cross scam'
ID thieves telephone next of kin and report bogus battlefield injury
msnbc
Military families make a tempting target for con artists, especially when a spouse is deployed overseas in a war zone.
Last week, the American Red Cross issued a warning to all military families to be on guard against a new scam in which the caller claims to be from the Red Cross. That caller could be an identity thief, trying to snag a loved one’s personal information.
“Unfortunately there are some people out there who are doing this very cruel scam,” says Devorah Goldburg, a senior officer with the American Red Cross. “We know of one case and there are likely more.”
In that case, Goldburg tells me, a woman whose spouse is deployed overseas got a call from “a young-sounding woman with an American accent” who said she was with the Red Cross.
The caller said the woman’s husband was hurt in Iraq and was evacuated to a hospital in Germany. Treatment could not start, she claimed, until the paperwork was completed.
The caller then asked to verify the husband’s Social Security number and date of birth. That’s everything an ID thief would need to open credit cards or take out loans in her husband’s name.
Because her husband is deployed in the United Kingdom, not Iraq, the wife quickly realized this was a scam and did not provide that information. She contacted the Family Readiness Group about the incident.
Lying to a military family is a crime
When told about this scam, Blake Draheim, a soldier at Fort Lewis in Tacoma, Wash. responded, "We’re out here serving our country. Why try to steal our identity? We're out here fighting for you.”
All of the services have programs in place to inform military families about the types of scams directed at them.
“It is a horrific thing to do,” says Shari Lawrence, Deputy Public Affairs Officer for Army Human Resources. “We take this very seriously.”
It’s also a federal crime, punishable by up to five years in prison, for a person to falsely pretend to be a member or an agent for the Red Cross for the purposes of soliciting, collecting or receiving money or material.
NEVER give out a Social Security number or date of birth to an unknown caller. In fact, you shouldn’t even confirm that your family member is deployed.
Remember; military doctors would never delay treating an injured soldier because they did not have identifying information, such as SSN or date of birth. That’s a sure sign the call is a scam.
Wild Thing's comment..........
There should be a special punishment for the people doing this. Families iand loved ones of those in our military serve our country too in a very special way. And for someone, anyone to do this kind of thing to them is unforgivable.
Posted by Wild Thing at June 19, 2007 12:44 AM
Comments
This is disgusting the way they are preying on our American Heroes families.
I also heard they are using newborn babies SS numbers as well.
I heard down in Texas, people are actually selling their own ss numbers for $14 each.
This is disturbing--lets just ruin everyone's credit and lives because we're too stupid to find a way to stop it.
Posted by: Lynn at June 19, 2007 04:11 AM
A new way of funding moolahs and Al K. Duh????
Hummmmm.....
- Gasman
Posted by: Steve G. at June 19, 2007 06:36 AM
Lynn, oh my gosh I had not heard about those things. Wow how horrible.What the heck is wrong with people.
Posted by: Wild Thing at June 20, 2007 12:54 AM
Steve G. it could be yes.
Posted by: Wild Thing at June 20, 2007 12:55 AM
