| The American Red Cross has
learned about a new scam targeting military families.
This scam takes the form of false information to
military families as described below:
The caller (young-sounding, American accent) calls a
military spouse and identifies herself as a
representative from the Red Cross. The caller states
that the spouse's husband (not identified by name) was
hurt while on duty in Iraq and was med-evacuated to a
hospital in Germany. The caller stated they couldn't
start treatment until paperwork was accomplished, and
that in order to start the paperwork they needed the
spouse to verify her husband's social security number
and date of birth. In this case, the spouse was quick to
catch on and she did not provide any information to the
caller.
The American Red Cross representatives typically
do not contact military members/dependents directly and
almost always go through a commander or first sergeant
channels. Military family members are urged not to give
out any personal information over the phone if contacted
by unknown/unverified individuals, to include
confirmation that your spouse is deployed.
It is a federal crime, punishable by up to 5 years
in prison, for a person to falsely or fraudulently
pretend to be a member of, or an agent for, the American
National Red Cross for the purpose of soliciting,
collecting, or receiving money or material.
In addition, American Red Cross representatives will
contact military members/dependents directly only in
response to an emergency message initiated by your
family. The Red Cross does not report any type of
casualty information to family members. The Department
of Defense will contact families directly if their
military member has been injured. Should any
military family member receive such a call, they are
urged to report it to their local Family Readiness Group
or Military Personnel Flight.
The American Red Cross ensures that the American
people are in touch with their family members serving in
the United States military by operating a communications
network that is open 24-hours, 7 days-a-week, 365
days-a-year. Through a network of employees and
volunteers at Red Cross national that link families
during emergencies, access to emergency financial
assistance, confidential counseling, community support
headquarters, local chapters, on military installations,
and deployed with troops, the Red Cross offers a broad
range of services. Among these services, the Red Cross
provides communications for families left behind,
assistance to veterans, and preparedness courses for
military personnel and their families |
