July 17 marks first Military Consumer Protection Day Published July 17, 2013 By Airman 1st Class Joshua Edwards 17th Training Wing Public Affairs GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- The Federal Trade Commission and Bob Ferguson, Washington State Attorney General, partnered to sponsor the first Military Consumer Protection Day July 17, to empower military and veteran communities with information as their first line of defense against consumer fraud. The FTC and Ferguson collaborated to make MCPD because military families face unique challenges and are often privileged to information that may be valuable scammers. "I think the military is more susceptible to scams because we move around all over the world," said Christopher Hernandez, Wing Operations Security Program Manager. "In my opinion, because we are privy to critical and sensitive information, that makes us targets for information collection; that is after all why OPSEC was created during the Vietnam War." Service members should watch out for scams and protect their Personable Identifiable Information, because it can adversely affect their careers. "Protecting your PII is tantamount to protecting critical or sensitive information," said Hernandez. "If you've had your identity stolen or lost a lot of money to a scam, then you may be susceptible to coercion for information. As far as career implications, you could potentially lose your security clearance if you are financially in dire straits. My advice, if it sounds too good to be true, then it probably is...go with your gut instinct, it is usually 99% right." Every year new scams are made; be sure to watch out for these common ones: · Telemarketing frauds: when unknown callers try to get people to send personal information or money to them · Nigerian Letter, or "419" Fraud: when a person impersonates a foreign government official and tries to get another person to help them by wiring money with the promise of making millions · Prime Bank Note fraud: when someone offers an investment with high yields in a short time, usually claiming they have inside bank guarantees These are just a few of the scams out there. To find out more about MCPD or other common scams visit http://www.military.ncpw.gov/.
