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Members of the military, their dependents and veterans lost more than $338 million to fraud during five years ending in 2019, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) data shows.
Impostor fraud was the top complaint from military families and veterans during each of those years, but they also fell victim to scams involving online shopping, sweepstakes and vacation time-shares, among others.
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In 2019, overall fraud losses among military families and veterans totaled nearly $92 million, an 11 percent decline from more than $103 million a year earlier, the FTC says. Still, last year's total was a 131 percent jump from 2015, when fraud losses suffered by military families and veterans were below $40 million.
Impostors target victims for their money, personal data or both. They may pretend to be with the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) or another government entity, or a charity, for example. Con artists also pose as romantic interests, masquerade as friends or relatives who need cash for an emergency or claim to be offering tech support.
The FTC, a consumer protection agency, for years has analyzed fraud, identity theft and other consumer complaints from what the agency categorizes as “military consumers.”
Veterans were behind the lion's share of last year's complaints, compared to active-duty military personnel, their spouses and children, reservists and National Guardsmen, the data shows. The numbers are amassed by the FTC Consumer Sentinel Network, which takes reports directly from consumers and from federal, state and local law enforcement agencies and private partners. One caveat: Not all complainants state whether they are service members or veterans.
With respect to identity theft, top complaints from military consumers centered on credit card fraud, bank fraud, and phone or utilities fraud.
Military Personnel, Veteran Dollars Lost to Fraud
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Exploiting veterans, young and old
"Younger veterans may be looking at people that might be trying to rip them off on things related to education, finding a job, starting a business,” says Carol Kando-Pineda, an attorney with the FTC's Bureau of Consumer Protection. Older veterans may face similar pitches and those for work-at-home schemes, which lure victims with the promise of fast cash but might charge a large up-front fee or seek credit-card information for illicit purposes.
Military families may be particularly vulnerable to fraud because they relocate frequently and because younger families may be living on their own or earning a paycheck for the first time, the agency says.
"Folks in the military are taught to depend and take care of each other,” Kando-Pineda says. “Unfortunately, scammers will try to take advantage of them and claim some sort of [military] affiliation to gain their trust."
Last year's data found that the typical case of fraud was almost three times as expensive for service members, their dependents and veterans as for the general population. Median losses were $894 for military consumers and $320 for the population at large.
