Government warns veterans about scam group

The federal government is asking military veterans living in the Florida Keys, and elsewhere, to keep an eye out for a scam that is targeting former service members.

A fallacious group called the Veterans Affairs Services is claiming to provide benefits and general information by gathering personal information on veterans, but the group is not affiliated with the official government agency, the Department of Veteran Affairs, according to a Veterans Affairs press release.

There is a website, at www.vaservices.org, related to the fake group, but all official Department of Veterans Affairs websites end in .gov, spokesman and Department of Veterans Affairs attorney Michael Daughtery wrote in the press release.

There have been no local complaints in the Keys concerning the group, according to Key West Council of the Navy League President Stan Rzad and Navy Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) Special Agent Mark Barstow. "We did get the information from the national league and have been spreading it around," Rzad said.

The Department of Veterans Affairs is reminding current and former military members that it does not randomly call veterans, nor does it ask for information that it would already have, such as Social Security numbers.

"In particular, if you have not dealt with the VA previously -- in person -- and all of a sudden you receive a call from someone saying they are with the VA or something similar, hang up the phone," the press release states.

The Department of Veterans Affairs also does not conduct any official business by email, Daughtery wrote.

Department of Veterans Affairs attorneys are working with the Department of Defense to ascertain if the fake group was able to gain access to military members' contact information, according to the press release.

"There are constantly people trying to take advantage of veterans, those deployed oversees or their families here," Barstow said. "NCIS is aware of it, but we haven't had any local complaints yet."

The Department of Veterans Affairs asks that military members or veterans who receive information from the fake group to notify the Key West Council of the Navy League at nlkeywest@keywestnavyleague.org or the Department of Veterans Affairs office in Washington at 800-827-1000.

BY ADAM LINHARDT Citizen Staff
alinhardt@keysnews.com