Each year, veterans lose millions of dollars to schemes targeted at them.
“The younger veterans fall victim more easily, but the older veterans tend to lose more money,” said Amy Rasor with the Better Business Bureau (BBB).
Because the schemers know veterans have a government connection, get government benefits and are expecting to hear from the government, they often pose as government agents.
“The highest reporting of scams are government imposter scams. So, that’s someone behaving as if they are the government to try to take advantage of people and that loss is over $33.5 million,” Rasor said.
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According to the BBB:
Texas veterans have reported more than $407,000 lost to scams across the Lone Star state since January 2021. The most common scams impacting Texas veterans this year are:
- Online purchase scams: Accounts for 29% of reports totaling nearly $40,000 lost.
- Phishing scams: Accounts for 16% of reports totaling over $26,000 lost.
- Employment scams: Accounts for 8% of reports totaling over $37,000 lost.
Visit BBB.org/Military for more tips and resources to protect active-duty and veteran service members from engaging with fraudulent businesses.
