If hell exists, you can be sure a special wing sits reserved for scam artists who would rip off the identities of active-duty military personnel by first ripping out the hearts out of their loved ones. Yet such unimaginably cruel crimes are a regular occurrence, according to a pair of military IT professionals who recently found themselves chatting at IT Security World with my colleague, Network World Senior Editor Ellen Messmer.
According to these IT pros, not enough is being done inside or outside of the military to publicize and thwart these assaults upon those serving in combat and their families.
What follows is Messmer’s account of that conversation:
“Families of military personnel serving in Iraq have it hard enough worrying about the safety of loved ones in a combat situation. So it was particularly shocking to hear that criminals are phoning these families, pretending to be from the Defense Department, and telling them that their spouse or child was killed in combat — all to commit fraud.
“The object is to elicit a Social Security number or other personally identifiable information for purposes of identity theft, say military IT professionals. All too often, the fraudsters get the information they want because the spouse or parent is so distraught they respond to these questions without hesitation.
“Fraudsters with criminal intent are phoning these families ‘all the time, and they’re falling for it,’ one IT security professional from the Navy told me as we were discussing military life over coffee. It was shocking to think fraudsters were so brazen and well, unpatriotic. Hearing more, it made me think this particular type of fraud wasn’t only an attempt at financial exploitation but possibly a national security problem aimed at co-opting military identities.
“The military has specific procedures about notifying families about the deaths of service members, and none of them include asking for Social Security numbers.
“By chance, there happened to be an IT specialist from the Army having coffee at the table as well that morning. She assured me that that criminals contacting families telling them a relative had been killed happened all the time. ‘It’s very common,’ she said.
“But where are these fraudsters getting their information about what families have a relative serving in Iraq or other hot spot abroad? Both these IT professionals thought it possible the fraudsters found it from the Web, perhaps from sites containing information posted by military families themselves, or from official military sites. Logic dictates the information could also be coming from military insiders.
“Given that this fraud does exist, my sources both said they’d like to see this problem given more exposure in the hopes of fighting it more effectively. In addition, they’d like to see the Defense Department taking a more high-profile role through educational outreach to military families, explaining the nature of this threat in order for them to be psychologically prepared for such a call.
“Seems like that’s the least we could do for anyone risking life and limb to serve in Iraq.”
