At the FTC, we know talking about scams helps people avoid them. Military Consumer Month is a great time to talk about ways scammers target the military community to steal their money, benefits, and personal information. Here’s how you can encourage the servicemembers and veterans in your life to share their scam stories.
It takes courage to share a scam story, especially if you’ve already paid a scammer. If someone you know experienced a scam, remind them that it can happen to anybody. Talking through their story can help them understand (and learn from) what happened. Keep the conversation going with some common ways scammers target veterans and how to avoid a scam, both good practice for you and them in the future. And use this action plan to make a list of trusted people and businesses to reach out to if you think you might be dealing with a scammer.
To help you brush up on your scam spotting skills:
- Subscribe to the MilitaryConsumer.gov blog to get the latest on scams sent straight to your inbox.
- Bookmark VSAFE.gov to help veterans learn about specific military fraud types and how to handle them — from car-buying to housing to education, along with other veterans benefits.
- Order free print materials at ftc.gov/bulkorder. Sometimes having advice in-hand can help people spot scams or identity theft long after your conversation.
If a servicemember or veteran tells you about a scam experience, tell them to report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov. And, if someone misused their personal information or stole their identity, help them report and take steps to recover at IdentityTheft.gov.
