JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. –
Technological advances have made fraud more prevalent for people all over the world by giving hackers the ability to gain access to personally identifiable information from across the globe.
A recent fraud alert pinpointed a person claiming to be a U.S. Air Force Airman assigned to Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, selling a 2004 Honda Accord LX.
According to Tech. Sgt. Marquin King, 633rd Security Forces Squadron criminal intelligence analyst, the suspect has baited U.S. Service members from Louisiana and Memphis by convincing the victims to send him five $500 eBay gift cards for a vehicle he will ship to them utilizing military shipping means. The suspect ceased contact once the victims sent the gift card codes.
Identifying fraud may be tough but there are signs that can lead a buyer to making an informed decision.
"Most spoof emails have things that mirror a legitimate email but a lot of the time they will have misspelled words and things of that nature," said King. "Other ways you can confirm the legitimacy is to contact the company [in which they claim to be representing]."
Giving PII to the wrong person or company can result in credit card scams, the loss of money and identity theft. For Service members, their PII can be used by adversaries to gain knowledge about military actions.
"To protect yourself, you have to be proactive by checking your credit reports and by using the privacy settings on social media," said King. "If someone gets ahold of your PII, they can damage your credit, purchase merchandise and prevent you from getting a loan or purchasing a home."
In a case of suspected fraud, visit www.consumer.ftc.gov/features/feature-0014-identity -theft for recommended actions by the Federal Trade Commission.
For more information, call 633rd SFS Investigations at 764-7768.