This week, Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody highlighted resources available to service members through the Military Consumer Protection Resource Guide.
The release comes as the nation recognizes National Military Consumer Protection Month. The guide is full of information about common scams targeting military members, veterans and their families.
“The brave men and women of our nation’s Armed Forces risk their lives to protect our safety and ensure our freedom. We owe it to them to provide every resource available to protect them from scammers attempting to exploit their courage and sacrifice,” Moody said.
“My office provides several resources to the more than 1.5 million veterans and nearly 100,000 active and reserve service members and their families to help them spot and report military-related scams. We also have a dedicated team of attorneys and investigators fielding complaints, submitted by military members, to track down bad actors targeting our brave heroes or their families. By continuing our work to protect our patriots, we will ensure Florida remains one of the most military-friendly states in the nation,” she added.
Moody encouraged all service members and veterans to consider the following tips to avoid falling victim to scams targeting the military community:
- Beware of scammers using misleading photos or language to imply association with a branch of the military;
- Verify the authenticity of an email or text that appears to be from a military branch. Phishing schemes use manipulated messages that appear to be from a military branch or the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in an effort to target service members, veterans or family members;
- Ensure any military charity soliciting funds is registered with the state’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services at FDACS.gov/ConsumerServices; and
- Place an active-duty alert on credit reports at no cost. An active-duty alert requires businesses to take additional steps before granting credit in the name of active-duty personnel serving overseas.
Moody’s office aids Florida’s military members and veterans through the Military and Veterans Assistance Program (MVAP) which is designed to educate military members and veterans on the types of scams that target their communities. Additionally, members of the MVAP team work directly with military service members and veterans who have been targeted—or their representatives—to help resolve consumer protection related issues or find other outside assistance, if necessary.
