A Word About Scams that Take Advantage of Veterans

Unfortunately, in this day and age, on and offline scams are becoming frighteningly more common. What is worse is that con artists are continuing to take advantage and target demographics of those who are most vulnerable – including United States Veterans. These scammers are doing irreversible harm to the Active-Duty military and Veteran Communities by tarnishing the name of genuine organizations and agencies that are dedicated to aiding the community. These rogue organizations manipulate the patriotism and honor that comes with serving one’s country, and take advantage of those who serve. It is important that those who serve or have served in the military be aware of these potential scams in order in order to identify and separate the fraudulent from the legitimate organizations.

At a time when the United States is engaged in multiple military operations around the world, there is great need for recognition and assistance for our Active-Duty Soldiers and Veterans. Numerous charities, organizations and loyalty programs around the nation like Veterans Advantage provide excellent services and benefits to reward those who have served.  However, as scammers continue to guise themselves in resembling these legitimate organizations, the reputation and effectiveness of the genuine organizations that aid veterans is tainted and diminished. It is a common practice for online scammers to target veterans and name their fraudulent organizations after very similar titles of legitimate companies. For example, “The Navy and Marine Association” is a legitimate charitable organization that is currently very concerned about their reputation after the infamous “U.S. Navy Veterans Association” was exposed in scamming over $100 million from donors nationwide who thought they were contributing to a legitimate veterans’ service organization. Although these two organizations are in no way associated with one another, the impact of an incident of this magnitude is that donors will be less willing to donate to an additional veterans’ service organization in the future – especially one with a similar name.

However, by spreading awareness of the nature and practices of these fraudulent entities, we can work together to keep them from taking advantage of our close community as well as instill trust and respect for the organizations that truly honor and assist those who have served. Subsequently, the true negative impact of veteran-targeted scams also results in the loss of trust in a tightly knit community built on trust and comradery.

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Learn 6 ways to Prevent Veterans Scams