Lowest are those who scam the troops, cheat off their backs, or interfere with those good people who are trying to help them. SupportOurTroops.Org operates the Fraud Sentry program, which is a fraud and remediation program in order to both try and prevent troop-related fraud, and to educate people in finding a legitimate place in which they can bolster the troops. As we learn about current troop-related frauds we post them on this web page. As we are able to report them or shut them down we post that information on this web page to inform all involved. If you are have been the victim of a fraud or would like to report one please use the contact form and we will look into it and take such action as we deem appropriate.

What Types of Fraud and Scams Do We Watch For? Some of the scams and fraudulent activities we have worked to report are listed below.

Internet Dating Website Scam The scammer rose in late 2009 and continues through August 2010 and likely into the future for some time. In this scam people pretend to be deployed troops or troops stationed in foreign countries. After establishing a relationship lead to fraud or is eventually will ask for the advancement or transmittal of money in a number of ways based on a number of reasons. You should take all the usual logical and normal steps to protect yourself against this.

The SupportUStroops.org Volunteer Contract Fraud The scam arose in January of 2010. Support Our Troops, Inc. became aware of it in August 2010 when several victims contacted us. We immediately took steps to take over the domain name being used to commit this fraud. We then arranged a redirect to point that domain to this fraud page in order to inform people about the scam and educate them on locating helpful ways that they can do things for the troops in a safe manner. In this fraud people were offered the opportunity to receive packages from certain types of donors and resend them forward to the troops. The fraud was posted on CareerBuilder.com.

The perpetrators of this fraud are based in the Czech Republic. Payment of a certain amount per box was promised in exchange for doing this. As a condition precedent to participating, people were asked to complete a Volunteer Contract providing their name date of birth, telephone, e-mail, copy of driver license, a copy of birth certificate, and the like. Obviously these are all related to stealing your identity and perhaps even procuring passports for the bad guys. One issue is what was in the boxes as participants were instructed that it was against the law for them to open them and see anything in them that was going to the troops. Many of the boxes being shipped went to the Ukraine. None went to the troops.

Another issue is that any and all private information that participants provided now belongs to overseas criminals specializing in identity theft. Most communications with users followed the classic model of Internet fraud, to wit, they dealt only by e-mail and website, and used only couriers and overnight mail delivery services such as UPS and Federal Express, that do not involve the United States Post Office. They did however make some mistakes and transmit express mail labels and custom declarations that expose the criminals to pursuit by the FBI and the postal inspector service both of whom who have badges and guns and enforce criminal penalties.

If you have interacted with these people, filled out any forms or otherwise given them any personal information, you should immediately take all necessary and prudent steps to verify that your identity has not been stolen and your credit has not been compromised. You should check with each of the three major credit bureaus and determine the most appropriate way to prevent or address harm in this situation. You may wish to change all of your passwords and all of your bank account access information. If any of the boxes you shipped have come back to the Post Office please report this, ask them to insect their contents, and report their findings to the Postal Inspectors.

Other Fraudulent Activity and Scams Please Contact Us if you are aware of any other military or troop-related scams or frauds.

Credit Bureaus If you are a victim of fraudulent activity, contact one of the major credit bureaus. Here is the main address and telephone number for each of the three major credit bureaus. NOTE: It's very difficult to speak with a human being using this info. The best way to speak with a real human is to first get your credit report. You can either use the Annual Credit Report service or order your credit reports and scores using one of the 30 day free trial offers.