FTC Issues Warning: ‘Don’t Let Scammers Poach Your Pension and Disability Benefits’

More than 150,000 reports of fraud and related threats were reported by veterans and military retirees last year.

The 9th Annual Veterans Parade & Festival in Philadelphia, Pa., on Nov. 5, 2023. William Huang/The Epoch Times

Criminals are targeting veterans to poach their pension and disability benefits, the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) warned on Tuesday while detailing how to avoid becoming a victim.

“Dishonest ‘advisers’ may try to get your pension benefits and disability compensation,” the FTC said in a Nov. 7 press release. Veterans who wish to apply for such benefits should only use “VA-accredited agents, Veterans Service Organizations (VSOs), or accredited attorneys.” These are the three types of representatives accredited by the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to make sure that claimants have access to qualified representations on their VA claims.

In order to check whether a specific person or organization has been accredited by the VA to be a representative, visit this link, which maintains a list of VA-approved individuals. The FTC urged veterans to check the list before discussing their pension or other benefits with anyone.

The agency advised veterans to read all papers and contracts involved in securing the pension or disability compensation carefully. “Understand all the terms, conditions, and implications of what someone helping you—even a VA-accredited adviser—is asking you to do.”

The FTC warned never to “work with anyone who pressures you—especially if they pressure you or advise you to move your money around to qualify for a benefit … Applying for VA benefits is free and you can also get legitimate free help.”

It pointed out that if a person receives any benefits from VA and it was later discovered that the individual does not qualify for such benefits, all such receipts must be returned. “And you might lose other government benefits or tie up money that you need to live on.”

The agency reminded veterans that “no one can guarantee you’ll get benefits from the VA,” including even accredited representatives.

Finally, the FTC asked veterans to keep their personal information safe and to never share VA login credentials or passwords. It recommended using strong passwords and multi-factor authentication to protect their data.

According to data from the FTC’s Consumer Sentinel consumer complaint database, there were more than 195,000 complaints of fraud and other related threats directed at the military community in 2022. This included more than 150,000 reports from veterans and military retirees.

Military consumers reported over $414 million in monetary harm due to being defrauded by criminals, which is a more than 50 percent jump from 2021.

In a Nov. 6 press release, the FTC issued an alert detailing the various tactics scammers use against veterans.

The criminals may claim to be from a government agency and insist that the veteran needs to pay a fine. They can also pose as an online love interest who needs money for an emergency like an expensive medical procedure. Another tactic involves a job offer, and insisting that a fee must be paid before getting hired.

Some scammers can also claim to have links to the military to secure trust and prevent the veteran from looking too deep into what they are saying, the FTC said.

Pension Poaching

During an interview with Military Times last year, Charles Tapp II, chief financial officer for the Veterans Benefits Administration, said that “fraudsters are getting smarter, more deliberate, and more engaged. They’re getting better.”

“We are seeing a lot more instances where veterans—particularly seniors—are getting fraudulent calls. So we certainly are making our senior veterans more aware about pension poaching.”

According to the VA, pension poaching targets veterans as well as their families who are potentially eligible for VA benefits.

“Pension poachers will often try to earn your trust by claiming to be advocates who can help you gain more VA benefits than you already receive. By doing so, these scammers collect money through fees or by siphoning off your benefit payments,” the VA said.

Some of the signs that a person is a pension poaching scammer include:

• Asking for reallocating investments to qualify for a VA pension payment.
• Requesting money to file a claim.
• Promising “guaranteed eligibility” for a particular VA benefit or a lump-sum amount at the time of being approved by the VA.
• Requesting personal information like credit card and other billing details.

Pension poachers may also contact veterans to ask them to deposit their VA benefits into a caregiver’s bank account.

“This tactic normally targets veterans and beneficiaries who receive additional aid and attendance or housebound allowance benefits to complete and perform daily activities of living. Whether you have a caregiver or not, it is important to remember all your benefits should go directly to you (the veteran or beneficiary) and no one else,” the VA department states.

In his interview, Mr. Tapp advised veterans that “if you are unsure [about an unsolicited call], please hang up and call that number back.”

“We record and log every call … so [staff] should be able to confirm that they just called and provide any information veterans need,” he said. “We want to make sure that veterans know that they are in control of their information, particularly when they’re engaging with us.”

Mr. Tapp recommended veterans who are confused about available benefits and services to contact the VA’s National Call Center at 1-800-827-1000. He warned that if someone were to contact veterans to discuss VA benefits and ask for personal information, such calls are likely to be a scam.