Scammers back to prey on troops’ families

[unhappycamper]

Scammers back to prey on troops’ families
By Karen Jowers - Staff writer
Posted : Thursday Jun 12, 2008 6:19:00 EDT

Scam artists of the worst sort — those who prey on families’ fears about their service members getting wounded or killed — have resurfaced, according to officials with the American Red Cross.

In one recent example reported to the Red Cross, a mother in Austin, Texas, got a call from scammers claiming her son had been injured in Iraq. The caller claimed to be from the Red Cross and asked for $5,000 for assistance for her son, said Joe Moffatt, senior vice president for service to the armed forces for the American Red Cross.

The woman did not give them the money.

These scams “are something we deal with on a regular basis,” Moffatt said, adding that they seem to start resurfacing at about this time every year, for reasons that are unclear.

The Red Cross does not call family members to share information when a service member is injured; that is the responsibility of the branch of service, or the member’s unit, Moffatt said.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/06/military_redcross_scam_061108w/