Veterans reported losing more money to frauds in 2024 than in previous years according to new Federal Trade Commission (FTC) data released in March. Scams and frauds frequently target veterans, service members, their families, caregivers and survivors, and the FTC estimated veterans lost $419 million to fraud last year in nearly 167,000 reported cases of fraud.
“Their job is to make it so enticing that you’re going to go ahead, put your guard down and give all the information they want,” said TVC Claims Director and Air Force veteran Sal Castillo about fraudsters in an interview with KRIS 6 News in Corpus Christi). “If you receive an unexpected email or phone call, don’t click on any links and don’t provide personal information. The VA or Social Security Administration typically doesn’t reach out to veterans unsolicited.” Castillo went on to emphasize the importance of verifying the origin of emails, text messages and calls.
Fraudsters may seek to take advantage of veterans on a range of their assets. This includes disability compensation claims, memorial services scams, personal finances, identity theft and more. The FTC reports the most reported scam category last year was imposter scams, with losses to government imposter scams increasing. Find out more at Scams and Fraud.
Find out about common scams, fraud prevention, reporting fraud and getting help from the VA Protecting Veterans From Fraud website: https://www.va.gov/initiatives/protecting-veterans-from-fraud / .
Learn more about identifying scams and what to do from vsafe.gov ( https://vsafe.gov/ ). Report suspected fraud by calling the VSAFE Fraud Hotline at 833-388-7233 (833-38V-SAFE).
