Tue, Jul 19th 2022 05:15 pm
Secretary of State Robert Rodriguez offers tips to increase awareness to help prevent fraud
√ July is Military Consumer Protection Month
By the New York State Division of Consumer Protection
The New York State Division of Consumer Protection (DCP) reminds active service members, veterans, and their families to be on alert for scams targeting the military community. The rise in these scams take a variety of forms, such as deceptive financial services, identity theft, online shopping, employment and even impersonation, just to name a few.
In recognition of Military Consumer Protection Month, DCP supports servicemembers by providing targeted scam prevention tips for the military community to empower them with actionable fraud prevention tips for greater awareness and control over their finances.
Scams are surging nationwide, and members of the military community are frequent targets of scammers. Many service members are young, often live away from home with frequent relocations, and are managing their own finances for the first time. They collect steady paychecks and receive a range of benefits, which makes them attractive targets for opportunistic scammers. According to Federal Trade Commission (FTC) data, fraud cost veterans, service members and their families $267 million in 2021, an astonishing 162% increase from the previous year. Furthermore, the median loss for military scam victims was $600, which is 20% higher than for the general…
