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Imagine this: You’re at home one evening when a sudden storm knocks out your power. You reach for that flashlight you keep in the kitchen drawer just for emergencies. You flip the switch, and the flashlight asks for your location. That would be weird, huh? Well, that could be exactly what’s happening — on your phone.

Veterans should be aware of a marketing scam targeting callers trying to reach the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) National Call Center or GI Bill Call Center. A marketing company has established two fraudulent numbers that differ from the two official VA call center numbers by one digit. If the fraudulent number is dialed by mistake, the answering party will offer a gift card and try to obtain personal and financial information, including credit card information, from the caller. The answering party may even transfer the caller to the VA after the caller’s information is obtained.

The FTC’s mission is to protect consumers. And one group of consumers who can face specific kinds of challenges? Our military community. For many young servicemembers, time in the service is their first full-time job. Military families may move around regularly as they change duty stations. In 2012, the FTC received 42,200 fraud complaints from the military community. The top complaint categories were: debt collection, imposter scams, fraud involving prize offers, sweepstakes or gifts, unlawful banking or lending practices, and scams that offer mortgage foreclosure relief or debt management services.

Veterans Day is a special time to honor all those who have served our country. According to the Department of Veterans Affairs, more than 22 million veterans live in the U.S. today. And yet, for all the grateful Americans who celebrate these heroes, there are scammers trying to take advantage of veterans and current servicemembers. The FTC’s Consumer Center has loads of information to help veterans and their families fight back against fraudsters.

You can rent a movie, a car, furniture or electronics of various kinds. And now, you can rent tires. You read it right: rental tires. They are, it turns out, a growing business. The price of rubber is going up, which means tires are more and more expensive. That’s where these tire rental places come in. Their marketing says: if you depend on your car to get to work, but you can’t afford to buy four tires, rent them instead.

You’ve served the nation and maybe you’re thinking about heading back to school to start the next chapter of your career. Colleges are there to help you, right? Hmm, not so fast. Not every school has got your back. Some for-profit schools may care more about boosting their bottom line with your VA education benefits. Some may even stretch the truth to persuade you to enroll, either by pressuring you to sign up for courses that don’t suit your needs or to take out loans that will be a challenge to pay off. In 2010, the Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Education (ED) said that 70% of the agency’s current fraud investigations were focused on for-profit schools. Ask some key questions before you make any decisions.

Phantom debts – sounds a little like a ghostly Halloween prank. Unfortunately, it’s no joke. Some fake debt collectors may try deception and threats to pressure you to pay debts that you don’t owe. The FTC recently settled a case with debt collectors, Pinnacle Payment Services, Lisa Jeter, her partners and related companies about just these kinds of practices. Imagine getting a phone message like this: This is the Civil Investigations Unit. We are contacting you in regards to a complaint being filed against you, pursuant to claim and affidavit number D00D-2932, where you have been named a respondent in a court action and must appear… Please forward this information to your attorney in that the order to show cause contains a restraining order. You or your attorney will have 24 to 48 hours to oppose this matter… Call 757-301-4745. Who wouldn’t be spooked? The FTC has gotten almost 3,000 complaints about messages like this.

When it comes to tricking you out of your money, for scammers it’s Halloween all year long. In 2011, an estimated 25.6 million adults (10.8 percent of the U.S. adult population) were victims of fraud. Consumer scams can take many different forms, from direct marketing to affinity scams and involve everything from identity theft to pension poaching. However, there are a few general tell-tale signs that you can look for if you’re trying to decide if a financial product or service you’re being offered is a scammer’s trick or a financial treat.

Every now and then, many of us get the strange feeling someone’s watching us. Given how easy it is these days for companies to gather information about where we are, what we’re doing, and how we’re doing it, this may well be more than a feeling. Even so, here’s one that really takes the cake:

It’s heartbreaking to see people lose their lives, homes, businesses, pets and livestock to ravaging floodwaters. But it’s despicable when scammers exploit such tragedies to tug at your heartstrings and appeal to your sense of generosity. That’s why the Federal Trade Commission, the nation’s consumer protection agency, urges you to be cautious of potential charity scams in connection with the ongoing flooding in Colorado. If you’re looking for a way to give, do some research to ensure that your donation will go to a reputable organization that will use the money as promised — and as you intend.