Scam call frightens military family
We’ve talked about some pretty underhanded scams in the past few years. Nothing seems to be lower than the virtual kidnapping scam where scammers try to convince you that one of your children has been kidnapped. There’s also the grandparent scam where scammers try to fool the elderly into giving them money by posing as one of their grandchildren in trouble. I think we can all agree that one group of people that should be immune from scams are those with family in the military. While these brave men and women are defending our country, they shouldn’t have to worry about their loved ones being scammed out of their savings or having their identity stolen.
Recently, a man in North Dakota received a phone call telling him that his Marine son was killed on active duty. The scammers told the man that his son had died during live-fire practice. They then asked the man where he’d like to have his son’s remains shipped to before eventually asking for the man’s Social Security number. It wasn’t until after the man hung up that he realized he had been scammed. He was eventually able to reach his son who was fine. The man then took several steps to try to make sure his identity won’t be stolen.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKiBLNlfKUk%5D
If the unthinkable were to happen and a service member is killed during active duty, a member of that branch of the military will personally visit the primary next of kin to inform them. Phone calls should only be received after a member of the military pays a personal visit to the family’s home. There have even been scams where people dressed in military uniforms have gone to people’s houses telling them that a service member in their family had died. So even if someone shows up to your home, you may want to make some phone calls first to confirm the news.
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