As a military veteran, I feel I must spread anything that I come across that is aimed at my fellow veterans. My website is geared to report any scam I run into with malice. But this one really hit home and I want to put out this veteran scam alert.
The Source
Many of you are familiar with AARP. I myself am a member of AARP who I feel do a great job for the seniors of our society. They keep us alert on all political concerns as well as anything that will affect the elderly from upcoming laws. They also inform us of better insurance options across the board.
I ran across this article that was published by the Detroit Free Press that was right for me to push a little further to make as many veterans aware of the information as I could. And that is what I did.
Targeted Scams Designed For Veterans
It is bad enough that as a civilian we have scams that are pushed at us but to have specific target scams takes it to a whole new level. Those are the most heinous of this crime to me because they can be the most deceiving.
These types of scams aimed at veterans consist of fake business or job opportunities, charity scams and tech support scams that are used to mislead the veterans. These can be put on anybody but some are designed to specifically trick veterans.
So veterans please take this report that I am getting ready to share seriously and don’t become the next victim.
The Actual Scam
Mr. Chad Wright of Greenville, SC was a military veteran who was seriously injured while serving. As with many who are he received a disability check for which he received every month.
Just like many people, he came under financial stress. This does not give anyone the right to prey on the situation. He ran into an early option to receive cash now in return for his pension.
As with anybody in a struggle, the offer was tempting enough to make him feel it would be a relief to him. The company who offered it was a company named BAIC.
I tried to google this and all I got was a Chinese state-owned enterprise and holding company of several automobile and machine manufacturers located in Beijing, China. Can’t really say they are part of it.
To make a long story short, he took the offer and when it was all said and done he traded in his disability payments for a mere $8,000. That does not make Mr. Wright a fool but someone who got approached at a vulnerable time.
That is a sad thing but I want everyone to be aware of just how far people will stoop to swindle you out of whatever you have.
The Very Final Results Of This Scam
I had to share the good news behind all of this for the scammers of the world. We won’t take it sitting down.
Because of this, we know that such agreements to purchase military pensions or benefits are prohibited under the Federal Anti-Assignment Acts.
The interest rates on these kinds of deals are too much ranging between 25% and 47.18%. You’d owe far more over time than you borrowed up front.
He is now a plaintiff in a suit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina in Greenville against BAIC Inc., the Voyager Financial Group, and others.
Conclusion
Scams target anyone that they can find a point of vulnerability. I personally remember working for a company that took charity money supposedly for a veterans campaign. I found out after I did not work there anymore they got raided by a government agency.
So you see these things can look and sound totally legit. And if you don’t research them first, you might find yourself at the wrong end of a bad deal.
The Detroit Free Press did a wonderful thing to make this information noticeable. Especially to a person like me because I am going to put an extension on the information to make even more readers aware.
I want to thank you all who visited us. This is a very good topic and I would be thrilled to hear any questions, comments or experience you might have to share with others.
There is a comment section below for you to respond in.
Fascinating article – it never ceases to amaze me how brazen some of these scams can be and how they continue to prey on the isolated, vulnerable or less internet savvy of our population. Thank you for sharing this information – it really helps to raise awareness about these scams. Cheers.
I know. They just keep getting more and more intricate as the years go by. One thing for sure they are savvy enough to change the scam with the times. That is why it is so important for people to expose them soon as they catch wind of it. This way nobody will get caught off guard.
Good article about scams. I don’t like people who scam veterans who put their life on the line for our country. I used to get a call from someone who claims I owed money to the IRS. But it is a scam because the IRS won’t call you on the phone.
Thank you for sharing that information. If we all speak on the scams we have encountered more people will know what to avoid. And you are right they will not call you like that.
This Is just awful to read about that companies and people out there are doing this type of scam and their prey is the weak and vulnerable. Really sad actually. Thank you for posting and thank you for your service. The more educated people are on this topic the more we are in a position to help people we know that might fall prey to a scam like this.
You are welcome and thank you for appreciating service members. I hope that as many people as possible will see this post and keep the information in the back of their minds. In fact, all scam information because anybody can be approached with a scam. And if they are ignorant of it they have a chance of falling for it. So educating people of them is a scammer’s worse enemy.
Hi there, it really is a good thing that you are alerting people to these disgusting scammers!! I only wish there were much tougher laws on this kind of thing. Preying on the vulnerable is the lowest you can go and I’m glad you are making a stand.
There are so many scams going on out there that I can hardly keep on top of them, I guess it will always happen and our only defense is to have people like you warning others before it happens to them, so thanks.
Exactly my intentions Stefanie. The only way to fight off the scammers out there is to make their plot noticed. This way nobody will have to second guess if what someone is offering is a good idea to deal with. I always say before you leap pry into the situation. There is too much information out there that you can find on the internet that just may point to exactly who is trying to scam you.
I also fell for this scam, same people involved. They’re taking over $1200 a month for 5 years, much more than double what was borrowed, and the details of the case are not being released to the public so I’m not sure what if anything I can do.
I am sorry to hear that. It is a shame how a lot of companies now are taking advantage of people by offering loans that force you to pay back double. It is becoming a common way to take advantage of people with not so good credit or in a jam for some reason. Personally, I think the government needs to step in and put some kind of regulations on these loan companies that limit them on how much interest they can charge.
Thanks for sharing your experience so that other readers can see just how serious these things can get.