AARP Report: Veterans Much More Likely Than Civilians to Be Targeted by Fraudsters

“Veterans can be viewed as easy targets by scammers due to the veterans' sense of giving back to other fellow veterans," says Troy Broussard, a Desert Storm veteran and senior adviser of AARP’s Veterans & Military Families Initiative. "This has led to fake veteran charities or causes being [among] the highest scams reported by veteran victims.”

Military experience may also make it more difficult for veterans to recognize and combat the emotional manipulations con artists employ, according to the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the law enforcement arm of the Postal Service. The Postal Inspection Service is a partner with AARP’s Fraud Watch Network in Operation Protect Veterans to raise awareness among former service members and their families about scams and fraud.

Using military jargon. such as calling out a need for a “DD Form 214” to receive fake benefits, is another tactic used to make a scam seem legitimate. The form proves military service and is issued at the end of one's time in uniform.

“Scammers know that veterans share a special bond of service," says Daniel Brubaker, the Postal Inspection Service's inspector in charge and a Marine Corps veteran. "They also know that veterans and military families get special benefits, and thus, they know how to craft a scam to be as effective as possible to get veterans to let their guard down and open their wallets.”

A need for better education and defense 

Continued, targeted prevention tips to inform military members on how to spot the differences between a legitimate and a fake offer are needed to lower veterans' risk of losing money to scams, the report says.

For example, no legitimate business will ask for payment with gift cards. And fraud victims who send money through gift cards, cash and payment apps like Zelle or Venmo will likely never be able to recover their funds. But the report found that these were some of the payment methods least utilized, generally, by both the military community and civilians.

To avoid scams, AARP recommends signing up for the National Do Not Call Registry and using a call-blocking service. Additional valuable safeguards include using strong and unique passwords for each online account; using two-factor authentication; and placing a free security freeze on credit reports at each of the three major credit bureaus.

The survey, though, found that almost half of all respondents did not take advantage of robocall-blocking services and a third were not on the Do Not Call Registry. Both those in and outside the military community would benefit from more information on protections to reduce the risk of being targeted, the report says.

In May, the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) developed a campaign to help older veterans and their families and caregivers identify scams and frauds such as pension-poaching schemes. The VA also offers information on veteran identity theft and has a toll-free help line for identity theft, 855-578-5492.

How does AARP help veterans combat fraud? 

AARP offers additional resources including alerts about the latest scams, a scam-tracking map, tip sheets and a podcast called The Perfect Scam. The AARP Watchdog Alert Handbook: Veterans’ Edition explains 10 ways con artists target veterans. Those within the military community who have received suspicious emails, texts, phone calls or mail can report them to trained volunteers by e-mailing protectveterans@aarp.org or by calling the AARP Fraud Watch Network help line, 877-908-3360.

Meanwhile, AARP advocates at the federal, state and local levels for policy changes that protect consumers and enforce existing laws.

About the survey: The poll was administered in August 2021 to 1,660 people, 851 active or former U.S. military respondents and 809 civilians age 18 and older, using NORC’s AmeriSpeak Internet Panel. The margin of error at the 95 percent confidence level was 3.76 percent among the veteran group and 4.4 percent among the civilian group.