ATLANTA — Military families are reminding each other to be cautious of any agency claiming your loved ones owe money while deployed overseas.
Scams targeting active-duty service members are already showing up in metro Atlanta. The latest scheme plays on people’s anxiety about taxes.
It’s a letter that appears to come from the IRS, and it warns the military member to pay back taxes or risk losing property.
“It looked very official,” one mother told Channel 2’s Courtney Francisco.
She asked us at Channel 2 Action News not to share her name to protect her airman’s location and identity.
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However, she said since he left metro Atlanta, she’s received letter after letter, some certified, warning him to pay nearly $2,000 or lose property.
“We didn’t know who to call. We didn’t know what was real. He’s so far away. There’s a time difference, and we didn’t want to affect his credit when he got home,” said the mother.
After repeated phone calls to the IRS, an employee finally answered the phone and confirmed the airman owes nothing.
“Disgusting, but, again, the criminals will stop at nothing to steal from anybody,” said Amy Nofziger.
She is the Director of Fraud Victim Support for the AARP’s Fraud Watch Network.
The AARP tracks military scams and says active duty members serving deployment orders are most susceptible to fraud attacks.
“Often times, when someone is deployed, their mail is not being checked enough. You know, they might not be online checking their bank statements,” said Nofziger.
The most prevalent schemes impacting this group are impostor scams and identity theft.
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Impostor scams happen when someone acts like an agency demanding money. Identity theft can happen when a criminal takes a credit card or loan out in someone else’s name.
“Put a freeze on your credit report. That is a great way to prevent anyone from opening up credit in your name,” said Nofziger. “Reach out to AARP, police, the VA to guide you through this.”
You can call 877-908-3360 to speak to an AARP advocate to help navigate the confusing process.
Last year, the Federal Trade Commission found that con artists stole more than $500 million from military families.
They targeted them through veteran benefit scams, mortgage scams, car sales and finance scams, investment scams, and charity scams.
To read more about each one, visit the AARP website.
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