By the Numbers: 10 February 2020

By the Numbers: 10 February 2020

 

$405 million

Roughly the amount of money lost to scams targeting military personnel and Veterans since 2012, according to Comparitech, a website that provides "information, tools, and comparisons to help consumers...research and compare tech services."
 

Most reported scams:

Employment scam – 275,114

Identity theft – 215,071

Impostor scams – 164,917

Advanced payment for credit services – 71,880

Banks and lenders – 55,431

Number of scams and $ amount lost by branch (since 2012)

Army – 566,738 people affected, $142,442,380 lost

Navy – 143,718 people affected, $62,542,897 lost

Air Force – 110,448 people affected, $44,257,654 lost

Marine Corps – 57,204 people affected, $24,976,528 lost

Coast Guard – 10,817 people affected, $4,772,422 lost

Researchers "analyzed military and veteran scam data from various sources, including individual reports through the Better Business Bureau and the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) Consumer Sentinel Network Data Book, as well as reports from a range of military news outlets."

See also Military.com article -- New Survey Shows Which Military Members Get Scammed the Most