As we enter the Memorial Day weekend, it is a good time to honor and remember all our veterans and active duty members of the military as well as thank them for their service.  Unfortunately, not everyone feels this way and scam artists look upon veterans as well as active duty members of the military as just potential victims.  There are a number of present scams that specifically target veterans as well as present members of the military.  Often military members serving overseas are targeted for identity theft because the identity thieves recognize that they may not be in a good position to monitor their finances and credit while serving overseas.  In another scam aimed at the military, a flier on a bulletin board at a VA hospital or other facility provides information for new VA benefits and a telephone number for the veteran or serviceman to call to file for these financial benefits.  Unfortunately, this is a scam.

TIPS

Any serviceman going overseas should put an Active Duty Alert on his or her credit report.  There is no cost to do this and it provides protection from the security of your credit report being breached by an identity thief who may get your Social Security number.  You can put an Active Duty Alert on your credit report by going to any of the three credit reporting bureaus as follows:

As for the phony benefits flier.  Never trust any flier promising benefits while it asks for personal information from you that can be used to make you a victim of identity theft.  Instead contact the VA at a number that you know is correct to inquire as to any potential benefits for which you might be eligible.