Scams targeting military members (and even their families) shouldn’t be a primary concern considering the sacrifices they already make for their country. Unfortunately, the droves of instances we see and the reports that come in daily paint a different picture. In fact, the number of identity theft reports from service members is much higher when compared to non-military consumers. From 2017 to June 30, 2021, the FTC received over 800,000 consumer reports from service members, including veterans, active duty, reservists and their families. Total losses tally up to $822.1M, with 420,697 of these reports related to fraud.
According to the FBI’s 2020 iC3 report, 12,827 government-specific impersonations alone were reported – an increase of nearly 40 percent since 2017. When it comes to military romance scams, in particular, a threat actor often poses as a service member in online dating forums (or otherwise) looking to build a trusted relationship. Once a victim is hooked, soliciting money for various service-related needs begins, ranging from transportation, communication, and medical expenses to marriage processing fees.
