Friends, I was almost scammed recently. BE AWARE and do not fall for it! **Small (just to get home) money request scams***

I received a call today from a VA SSVF provider asking me if I could help a marine veteran with a wife and 3 year old child who were stranded at a train station in Fresno and needed a little bit of money for train tickets to get back home to Oklahoma.

After hearing the heartbreaking background story about the veteran, I agreed to reach out to my contacts and find out what I could do to get this veteran, wife, and child home safely. Keep in mind that when the SSVF person called me, I had assumed they had already vetted the veteran (confirmed this persons military background), however, I learned later she had not.

So, I called the “vet” and he picked right up. He confirmed the story that the SSVF provider shared with me: he was stuck at the Fresno train station, had slept there for 3 days with his wife and 3 year old child, needs to get home, came to CA for a funeral, never intended to stay as long as they did…..

The “vet” explained to me that he had already been able to receive $150 from the local VFW 8900, had $64 of his own, and only needed an additional $51 (not including food) to purchase his train tickets and get home. His VA disability does not get direct deposited but gets mailed to his home in OK. He doesn’t have a bank account and only has access to a pre-paid card that is attached to a Cash-App account. Venmo would be an acceptable form of payment because he could transfer the funds to his Cash-App / pre-paid card that way.

Of course I’m thinking that this was going to be a pain trying to get a vet and his family to coordinate a financial assistance pick up in Fresno especially since they don’t have access to a car and are limited in their funds. Also, how much time and effort do I really want to put into this when the request isn’t for that large of an amount… maybe I can save time and hassle by just sending him my own money and get back to what I was doing….

Well… that’s the scam. People are banking on YOU not feeling like putting the effort out to do the vetting process needed to confirm military history and going through the application process needed to obtain financial assistance. They know they can get a couple of people like me or the SSVF provider to send the $51 or more and be done with it.

How did I find out? I called my buddies in Fresno and the surrounding area. Thanks to James JD Bennett for letting me know about this well-known scam that has been spreading like wildfire up in the Fresno area. Thank you, Commander Autrey James for sending me contacts for other posts nearby and suggestions for who else to call.

Turns out that there are multiple people making calls to many non-profits, most of them veteran service orgs but also to senior centers and other social service orgs who all have similar stories. VFW Post 8900 answered their phone for me and the man who answered confirmed he gave the “vet” money out of his own pocket (not post money). It wasn’t the amount that my vet told me he received and he was also using a different name and was wearing Navy fatigues. The name my “vet” gave me was never used at VFW 8900. In the end, do your vetting if you can and don’t fall for a sob story. Be aware of this scam and require proof of service.