PRESS RELEASE - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
David Quinlan, Vice President of Marketing | 206-676-4119
SCAMMERS TAKE AIM THIS MEMORIAL DAY
BBB Warns Members and Their Families to Be On Guard
DuPont, Wash. – May 22, 2015 – As families prepare to honor fallen service members this Memorial Day weekend, Better Business Bureau serving Alaska, Oregon and Western Washington reminds the public that scammers have their sights set on ripping off military personnel.
Find out what's happening in Lakewood-JBLMfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Con artists often use malicious tactics to steal the money and identities of deployed troops and military families.
Phone Scams: Impostors pose as Veterans Administration employees and call to “verify” personal information, sometimes using scare tactics like VA benefits cancellations to collect birthdates, Social Security numbers and bank account information.
Find out what's happening in Lakewood-JBLMfor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Rental Listings: Cyber thieves create bogus online rental listings and lure in potential victims by offering military discounts, requiring that deposits and rent be wired to “landlords” who are out of the country.
Military Loans: Sketchy lenders promise “instant approvals” and no credit checks, but loans often carry extremely high interest rates and hidden fees.
Insurance Policies: Solicitors make false statements or inflate claims regarding the benefits of policies they offer, using high-pressured sales pitches to sell expensive—and often unnecessary—life insurance policies.
BBB advises consumers to research about businesses and charities by visiting bbb.org before giving out personal information, making payments or giving donations. Deployed service members can also sign up for “active duty” credit alerts to minimize the risk of identity theft.
BBB Military Line provides free resources to all branches of the U.S. military, including financial literacy information, scam alerts and access to BBB services such as complaint handling and dispute resolution.
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ABOUT BBB: For more than 100 years, Better Business Bureau has been helping people find businesses, brands and charities they can trust. BBB serving Alaska, Oregon and Western Washington, founded in 1918 and serving more than 9 million consumers, is one of 112 local, independent BBBs across North America. In 2014, people turned to BBB serving Alaska, Oregon and Western Washington more than 5 million times for BBB Business Reviews on more than 264,000 local businesses and for Charity Reports on more than 1,200 local charities, all available for free at akorww.bbb.org.