Scammers have no scruples.  They target whomever they think is vulnerable including the elderly.  They also have been increasingly targeting the men and women of the military both active and retired.  The most recent military scam involves and email that purports to be from the Defense Finance and Accounting Services, which is the payment service for the Department of Defense.  In this email the scammer informs the military service member or retiree that if they are receiving disability compensation from the VA, they may be entitled to additional money from the IRS.  The email goes on to request supporting documentation including copies of the email recipient’s income tax return, 1099-R form, Retiree Account Statements and VA award level.  The email looks legitimate and the email address from which it is sent has a “.mil” domain, but the email is totally false.  Anyone sending this material will find themself a victim of identity theft.

TIP

As always, you can never be sure of who is sending you an email no matter how legitimate it may appear.  Any email that seeks such personal information should never be responded to until you have contacted the legitimate agency at a telephone number or email address that you know is legitimate to confirm whether or not the email that you received is a scam.