The Federal Trade Comission Has Issued A Warning To Consumers
By villageanne
@villageanne (8553)
United States
June 22, 2007 8:43pm CST
On June 20, 2007, The Federal Trade Commission has issued a warning to the consumers. I just read the article on the Government site, Federal Trade Commission. I just cannot believe the lack of compassion some people have. Evidently the scammers are targeting families of military members. They are calling them and saying they are the Red Cross. They then notify the family that their family member has been hurt. Then they want private information.
These men and women are serving our country to keep us safe and someone is doing this to their families. I just cant believe it. It is the worst kind of scam and I am really upset over this. The Red Cross made a statement that they seldom contact the families. Can you image the stress and worry this would cause not to mention all the private information getting to the scammers. I hope they get caught and punished.
The FTC had this to say, “The Federal Trade Commission is warning consumers about a scam targeting families of military members. A caller, claiming to work for the Red Cross, notifies an individual that their family member has been injured while on duty. To get immediate aid to the injured service member, the caller says, paperwork must be completed, and personal information must be verified.”
You can read more about this here:
http://www.ftc.gov/opa/2007/06/redcross.shtm
To read more about the Red Crosses statement you can find that here:
http://www.redcross.org
12 people like this
17 responses
@maddysmommy (16230)
• United States
23 Jun 07
That is just terrible. In the end they will get caught. Thanks for posting the link villageanne - I am going to forward this on to a few friends.
2 people like this
@crazynurse (7482)
• United States
23 Jun 07
It never ceases to amaze me the depths to which people will stoop in their greed. I'm sorry, forgive me for saying this, but there is a special place in h*ll for people like this. If caught, these people deserve life in prison. To play with the mind of someone who has a loved one in battle is simply inhumane and the person who does this doesn't deserve to be a part of society. Rather, they deserve a dark, dank dungeon-like cell and plenty of time to reflect on their actions.
2 people like this
@AskAlly (3625)
• Canada
23 Jun 07
How much lower can you get! Those who are into this scam should be punished to the full extent of the law. It's despicable! I can't believe that there are those that will prey on the grief of others and telling a gargantuan lie that is devastating news for any family. Lock them up and throw away the key.
@RobinJ (2501)
• Canada
23 Jun 07
Hi Anne, that is deplorable to say the very least, I do not know what has come over people today that they feel that they can take advantage of anyone. I do not understand their thinking. or their lack of morals.I believe that we need to seriously look at the legal system and get it working to protect the innocent and punish the guilty, because right now it is working the other way.The criminal seem to have all the rights as well as free legal assistance, were as the victim is again made a victim when the criminal gets a slap on the wrist and get out of jail card not once but several times, and I know our prisons are over loaded already and there is no more room or money to make more rooms so they are allowed to remain in the general public and carry on with there wicked ways. There has to be a limit of what the general public is willing to accept, and to my mind it is way past due.
2 people like this
@66jerseygirl (3877)
• United States
23 Jun 07
Thanks for posting this. I don't know what is wrong with people.It's not enough people have to worry about their family members,they have to worry about these jerks too.
@keepermykitty (2573)
• Canada
24 Jun 07
This is terrible , how can anyone do this to people .
If you think about it wouldn`t it be their Sargent
(whatever) to be the one contacting the families NOT THE RED CROSS ...
That alone would make me wonder ...
I also hope they are caught and punished , they deserve what they get ...
1 person likes this
@kgwat70 (13388)
• United States
23 Jun 07
That was very upsetting to hear and hope they get caught and locked up for doing something like that. Just when you thought people could not get any lower, they find another way to go lower. It is appalling that they would go after families who have a child serving the country. I did not hear about this warning til I saw your post.
2 people like this
@gewcew23 (8007)
• United States
25 Jun 07
It is just amazing how low some people are to take advantage of these poor families who husbands and wives, and children are over seas fighting for us. How can someone tell someone that their loved one is injured for profit? How can these people ask these families for money? There are definately some very sick people in this world. How do these people sleep at night? But we need to remember that there are those type of people. People who will shoot you for your $20 bill in your wallet. People that will break into your house, and just steal something that has almost no monetary value whatsoever but has sentimental value to you. We just got to remember that there are people who are wired a little differently than most of us.
@cblackink (969)
• United States
24 Jun 07
I honestly can't believe how low some people will stoop. I've had my social stolen on a laptop computer from a large corporation I used to work for and thankfully, so far, nothing major has happened. Considering how bad my credit is, they wouldn't get very far with it anyway. But this just takes the cake. Considering what our military is doing for us and many others in the world, I think these people should be thrown behind bars and they should throw away the keys.
1 person likes this
@craftwave (1338)
• United States
1 Jul 07
Anyone in the military should know that the Red Cross does not contact you. They contact the head chain of command to get messages to military personel. The military themselves will contact a family member if someone is hurt. A family member may contact the person themselves but they still have to go through the Red Cross to get emergency leave. Here is what the Red Cross does when it is contacted. They verifiy the emergency, they then contact the head chain of command with a Red Cross message which is then passed on by the head of command or even the military chaplain if one is available. You have to contact the Red Cross. It is called generating a Red Cross message. They never contact you. Military personel and families are taught this from the beginning.
1 person likes this
@KrisNY (7590)
• United States
24 Jun 07
Isn't this the saddest thing- I just don't understand how cruel people can be- My sister in law sent me an e-mail about 2 weeks ago with the same sort of info- My brother is in Iraq- and his sargeant master sent an e-mail out to all the wives of the deployed - saying that someone was going door to door -dressed in Army Greens informing the wives that their husbands had suffered a casualty- then asking to verify soc sec # and other info- Luckily these wives didn't give the info but instead called the sar. master- I can't believe people are so cruel!
@villageanne (8553)
• United States
24 Jun 07
I wonder though if you had a child overseas in Iraq and they called would that rule still apply or would fear take over and change the rule. Fear has a way of ultering our minds and habits.
@suscan (1955)
• United States
3 Jul 07
Some people are so terrible. This is jut so sick and perverse to let someone think their loved one is injured,just to scam them.
@samtaylorskykierajen (7977)
• Canada
23 Jun 07
That is absolutely horendous that anyone would come up with such a scam to hurt so many people in such a way . I really hope they find out who is doing this and as soon as possible and when they do , I really hope these individuals are punished just as bad as all the people they are hurting .
The scams are getting worse and worse and it makes you wonder what kind of people feel that they would need money so bad in their lives that they would be willing to hurt so many others that have never done anything to them and don't deserve to have their lives ruined because they are decent and honest , hard working people . We all need money in life but we don't need more money then what we have to survive as thier are so many more important things in life then what you can buy or what you own . This is just absolutely horrible of anyone who would come up with a scam like this to hurt so many families that are actually helping their countries to make a better life for the rest of us !!
1 person likes this
@worldwise1 (14885)
• United States
3 Jul 07
Welcome to the "Land of Opportunity," villageanne. Yes, it is shameful that we have so many people in this world who want to get rich through deception and abuse of their fellowman. This is moreso when it involves the families of our armed forces. I wish too that they would corral these crooks as soon as possible.
