More to the Story with Staley: Veterans Scam

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF) — If you’ve ever been scammed, and hopefully, you haven’t been, one can only imagine what a helpless feeling it is.

One national organization is now working hard to make sure “our nation’s finest” are not the victims of fraud.

Scammers, those who operate in the dark world, are unfortunately very good at what they do.

But scamming our country’s veterans? That’s just about as low as it gets.

“You know Dave, when you take a look at our nation’s heroes, they have paved the way for all of us who’ve served,” said AARP Veterans Senior Advisor Troy Broussard. “This is a personal mission of mine. I want to protect our veterans.”

That’s Troy Broussard, who works for AARP. Himself a veteran of Desert Storm.

AARP is trying to alert veterans about a new law passed last year. The PACT Act. It expands access to VA health benefits for more than five million veterans.

But with a new law, comes scammers. And scamming a veteran is lucrative for the bad guys. According to a recent survey, veterans are 40% more likely to be scammed than the civilian population, especially with a new law in place.

“These scammers know, with something new, that awareness is down. And also, scammers know that vets have money and benefits. That makes them a target,” Broussard continued.

Of the 18 million veterans in America, there are over 400,000 here in Tennessee. Almost 700,000 in Georgia.

Nationally, veterans reported losing more than $414 million to scammers in 2022 alone.

It’s a serious, serious problem.

“What we’ve found is that veterans are being targeted because they don’t know the new law. We want to make vets aware of the new law,” Broussard said. “Nearly two-thirds of veterans are unaware that they can get free assistance from the VA with the new law.”

Broussard says veterans of all ages are being targeted. Head to the website, AARP.org, for a number of tips to avoid losing your well-deserved benefits.