Ten Consumer Alerts for Military Families

Written by: Kristen Jowers, MS and Nichole Huff, Ph.D, CFLE

According to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (2024a), the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) received more than 190,000 fraud reports from service members, veterans, and their families in 2023. During a PCS or deployment, the last thing a service member should have to worry about is protecting their personal information from scammers. Recognizing scams that affect the military community (e.g., natural disaster assistance scams, voice cloning artificial intelligence, rental listing fraud) can help increase awareness and safeguard military families from becoming victims.

Below are ten consumer alerts for the military community.

Natural disasters: Fraudsters often seek to use disasters to lure victims (especially ones receiving insurance money) into investment scams. These scams can happen in person, through phone calls, texts, or emails. (SEC)
Thrift Savings Plan (TSP): Fraudsters may use scare tactics to convince TSP investors to transfer money out of their TSP accounts and into other accounts controlled by the fraudsters. (SEC)
Voice cloning: Scammers can use Artificial Intelligence (AI) to clone voices, hoping that a desperate call from a familiar person will result in sending money without questioning the situation. (FTC)
Robocall and Robo Text: Scammers use AI-generated calls and texts featuring imposter celebrities requesting support or offering free items. (FCC)
Tax refund: The IRS warns taxpayers to be on the lookout for a mailing scam that tries to mislead people into believing they are owed a refund. (IRS)
Job listings: The newest job recruitment scam on social media advertises for appointment setters, and may even require prospective employees to pay upfront for their training. (FTC)
Teleworking: Scammers offering “too good to be true” remote work opportunities. Telltale signs are that the hiring process moves quickly, often through text, and may include offering a large check to kick start setting up the home office. (FTC & FINRED)
Rental listings: Scammers place urgency around paying application fees, deposits, and rent but the listing is not real, not available, and/or not their property. (FTC)
Student loans: Email scammers disguise themselves as the borrower’s student loan servicer, and try to get bank account details and other personal information. (FTC)
Airline customer service: Posing as airline customer service representatives, scammers contact disgruntled travelers via social media. After offering to resolve the problem, they ask for airline confirmation numbers, bank accounts, and personal information. (FTC)

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (2024b) has also outlined the classic warning signs (e.g., claiming to be from the government, a bank, a business, or a family member and, asking you to pay money). In the instances where fraud may have already occurred, help service members and families to identify and take the steps to report the fraud and protect their identity. The VSAFE website was launched in 2024 to provide information about new scams targeting the military community and can help increase awareness of how to detect fraudulent calls, texts, and emails. The website also details the steps for reporting fraud. Visit https://vsafe.gov/ to learn more.