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USPS Partners with the VA to Protect Veterans from Fraud and Scams

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A division of the United States Postal Service, known as the United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) is partnered with the Veteran’s Administration Privacy Service (Office of Privacy and Records Management, OPRM) in a two-year agreement continuing to provide veterans and their dependents with important data on avoiding scams and protecting personal information. Operation Protect Veterans is a national anti-fraud campaign that alerts veterans and their families who have a long history of being targeted for financial abuses, often leveraging a veteran’s sense of duty and loyalty to fall prey to scams. The USPS also supports the VA’s More Than a Number campaign, which seeks to educate veterans and their beneficiaries on protecting themselves from identity theft.

Scams that target veterans run the gamut from subtle to outright audacious. Some of the better know scams may include:

  • VA phishing scams: Fraudsters, posing as VA employees in electronic communication, contact veterans via “phishing,” including email spoofing, text messaging, and instant messaging. The goal is to obtain important information like Social Security numbers and personal financial information. The data is then used to access bank accounts or open fake credit card accounts.
  • Benefits buyout offers: This setup involves a scammer taking advantage of a veteran’s immediate financial needs by offering a quick, upfront purchase of future disability or pension payments at a fraction of its true value.
  • Fraudulent records promotions: Scammers will charge fees to veterans’ access to government forms or military records. This information is available for free through the VA for forms and the National Archives for military records.
  • Bogus employment offers: Veterans often fall prey to fake job descriptions posted online. Applying for these fake jobs, veterans provide personal information on applications, and scammers will usually also charge an employment “fee.”
  • Fake charitable request: Scammers, in this instance, will often use plausible branding techniques, making fraudulent claims about charitable donation collection that will not benefit wounded service members or veterans.

The most basic advice to all veterans is, do not provide information to unknown entities. Research and verify all offers and claims from outside sources. If you do not understand an offer, ask a trusted love one for help. If the scammer persists or makes financial threats remember the surest tactic is to hang up the phone, press delete, or don’t open a link you were not soliciting, or that is unknown to you. The links provided can be of great assistance to connect veterans and their loved ones to programs and educational videos to help them identify a scam before personal loss ensues. If you have a loved one that is not web-savvy, help them to understand what to look for to prevent mail fraud, bank fraud, or some other type of scheme.

The VA Privacy Service and USPIS, with their continued partnership, share a common goal: to educate veterans and their families about known scams and provide simple precautions they can take to protect their identity and money. Both the US Postal Inspection Service and the VA want to help veterans and their dependents avoid becoming victims.

If you have questions or would like a private meeting to discuss your planning needs, please don’t hesitate to contact us. Please contact our Ruston, LA office by calling us at (318) 255-1760 or schedule an appointment to discuss how we can help with your VA planning matters.

Trump Signs Law Encouraging Reporting of Financial Elder Abuse

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Financial elder abuse is a growing problem in our country. Financial institutions are often the first to witness elderly clients making unusual transactions that may be linked to a scam. Accordingly, on May 24, 2018, President Trump signed the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act into law . That act contains a section  which is designed to encourage the reporting of elder (age 65 and older) financial abuse witnessed by financial institutions. Although the new law does not require that the institutions report financial abuse directed towards senior citizens, it does give them an incentive to do so. The new law provides immunity from lawsuits alleging elder financial abuse if the financial institution reports it to state or federal law enforcement agents. Law enforcement has an obligation to investigate once a claim is made. To qualify for immunity, a financial institution has to create and administer a training program for employees to teach the employees how to spot elder financial abuse. 

As good of an idea this is, it is by no means a novel concept.  The new law was inspired by Maine’s Senior$afe program. Senior$afe encourages state regulators, financial institutions, and legal organizations to work together on educating banking and credit union workers to spot and stop elder financial abuse. When elders have a trusted third party to talk to about their finances, they are less likely to fall victim to elder financial abuse, and this program has found success in reducing the amount of elders who fall victim to these scams.

Moreover, in 2016, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) issued a report stating how reporting elder financial abuse has already become a respected norm in hundreds of counties around the country. The report provides that these counties created voluntary community-based partnerships to prevent, detect, and respond to elder financial abuse situations. These partnerships often include entities such as financial institutions, adult protective services, and law enforcement. The CFPB found that these partnerships can be incredibly effective in protecting their elderly citizens. What’s more, in states without elder financial abuse protection laws, these community efforts have created a sense of responsibility within these counties to protect their most vulnerable from financial scams, without reward or threat of prosecution against financial institutions. Following this report, the CFPB released a resource guide and best practices to help and encourage other counties across the US to adopt their own protection partnerships. Among other recommendations, the CFPB encourages communities to directly include law enforcement and financial institutions in these partnerships.  Also, the CFPB recommends that partnerships which serve diverse areas engage with groups that are already entrenched in the community, such as service groups or faith-based organizations.

Protecting our most vulnerable is important to providing a safe and prosperous society for all citizens. These community-based partnerships and the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act are both steps in the right direction towards protecting those who aren’t able to protect themselves. If you suspect financial elder abuse, first report it to law enforcement as soon as possible. If you suspect that someone is misusing a power of attorney to take advantage of a senior citizen, then please contact Add Goff, Elder Law Attorney.