COLORADO SPRINGS — Last year more than 93,000 fraud attacks targeting members of our military and veterans were reported to the Federal Trade Commission.
”I joined the Marine Corps right out of high school," said Scott, a military veteran living in Pueblo. "I’m not a hero, I'm just a Marine that did his job.”
His father was a Korean War Veteran and Scott says it was special to continue his family’s legacy serving the country, but he says his years of military service have also made him a popular target for suspicious phone calls.
”They are relentless in blowing up my phone and are trying to get information off of me. It’s 10 or maybe more phone calls sometimes,” said Scott.
He says some of the calls are spoofing the caller ID to look like legitimate places and organizations. He says in most cases they want sensitive information.
”If you aren’t paying attention they can take advantage of you real easily,” said Scott. ”Nobody should have my social security number. That’s mine and the government's.”
He’s asked questions and has tried to make the calls stop.
”Why are you calling me? How did you get my number? What list did you get this off of? And then they hang up,” said Scott.
Here are some important things AARP says to keep in mind if you are a military member or veteran getting these calls:
- You can always hang up and verify details and information– do not give into pressure to act on the call.
- Don’t pay for copies of military records– you can get them for free through your local VA.
- Don’t trust the Caller ID, hang up and call the organization to verify it’s actually them.
Scott feels this is important information and a story that should be shared.
”All I want to do is spread the word that these people are out there and they’re trying to get us,” said Scott. ”It took a lot of stress off of me. When I left you that phone call and you called me back it was like… they’re listening… we need that.”
Scott says one of the calls he got had UCCS on the caller ID. The university tells News5 they did not make this call and encourages anyone who gets a suspicious call appearing to be from them to hang up and reach out to the university directly.
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