An important part of is maintaining privacy when homeowners and their family members are using the Internet. However, the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command (CID) has recently warned of new scams perpetrated by those posing as U.S. servicemen and women that could threaten that privacy. As social networks continue to grow and their use becomes a part of everyday life for many people, the risk increases that they will be affected directly by these scams unless they become aware of what to look for when they are talking to people online.
The CID has noted recently that, “CID special agents frequently receive reports from around the world of various scams involving criminals pretending to be U.S. Soldiers. These scam artists often portray themselves as male U.S. Soldiers; then prey on the unsuspecting victim’s emotions, leading to nothing more than broken promises and an empty bank account for their victims. Cyber criminals also continue to create profiles of senior Army officers and non-commissioned officers, to include the use of official photographs, in an attempt to lure unsuspecting persons into revealing personal, banking, or financial information.”
Once the scam has been set into motion, individuals will find themselves facing a number of problems, including unauthorizedpurchases made with their credit cards, money being deducted from their bank accounts, and even having their identities stolen.
One of the most common reasons that homeowners and their family members fall for these military scams is because, most often, it is homes that have a father, mother, or adult children in the military that is targeted, and they sympathize with whatever the plight of the scammer is. In order to avoid being taken in, homeowners and their families should be especially careful of revealing their military status on public websites. They should be wary of strangers asking for friend requests on Facebook or Twitter, especially if they have a military profile. Any member of the family who is in the military should be careful when posting photos, and they should never post too much personal information that might make them the target of scams like this.
Because these military scams are growing in number, any homeowner who uses the Internet and who has family members in the military should be especially vigilant about protecting their privacy online. Any suspicious activity should be reported immediately to the CID or to local law enforcement officials.
Tim Eveler
Author & Public Relations – Tim has been working in sales for the home security system industry over twelve years. He’s held positions at large home security companies and in charge of working with the team to create our security system reviews.