To mark this Veterans Day, the White House announced the launch of the new Veteran Scam and Fraud Evasion (VSAFE) campaign and Task Force to help protect veterans and their families from bad actors.
The announcement comes at a critical time, as the Biden administration estimates that veterans, military personnel, and their families reported 93,000 fraud complaints that cost them over $414 million last year.
In a Nov. 10 fact sheet, the White House said that the task force includes leaders from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), Department of Education, Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Social Security Administration, Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Department of State, and Department of Defense.
In the coming months, the VSAFE Task Force plans to release a toolkit that provides tips on preventing fraud and scams, as well as publish a series of videos to explain different forms of fraud.
The task force will also create a “one-stop-shop” for veterans, with the FTC serving as the central recipient of reports of scams against veterans and service members at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
The task force will also work with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to identify the originators of scam calls targeting veterans and service members, and order phone companies to block these calls.
The White House’s task force comes as the VA has its own VSAFE initiative underway. The agency launched a website in September that offers a hub of resources to veterans and their families to learn how to easily recognize fraud.
“Through this effort, we’re providing help to veterans exactly when and where they need it from all across the VA,” VA Deputy Chief of Staff Maureen Elias said in September. “As part of this work, we’re providing targeted communications to educate and warn the veteran community about fraud schemes, especially when the risk is highest.”
The VA is also looking to protect veterans against PACT Act scams, following an increase in PACT Act-related phishing, vishing, and social media scams targeting veterans to access their PACT Act benefits.
The agency also announced a new advertising initiative today aimed at encouraging more veterans to sign up for VA health care and benefits.
“Our goal is to bring as many veterans as possible to VA, because study after study shows that Veterans who use VA do better,” said VA Deputy Secretary Tanya Bradsher, who the Senate confirmed in September. “But we need to give veterans a clear and compelling reason to sign up, and that’s what this campaign is all about: showing veterans that they can save thousands of dollars by using their earned VA health care, home loans, GI Bill benefits, memorial services, and more.”
