VA launches new platform to help veterans identify and report scams
U.S. Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough gives remarks at a National Veterans Day Observance ceremony in the amphitheater of the Arlington National Ceremony Anna Moneymaker /Getty
Scammers have increasingly targeted veterans and their beneficiaries, particularly after the PACT Act expanded benefits and health services for retired service members.
The Department of Veterans Affairs announced on Friday that it launched a website and call center to help protect veterans from scams, a move that came after lawmakers pressed VA to step up its anti-fraud efforts.
The department said the new services “will help inform veterans and their families of common fraud schemes, give them tools to protect themselves and provide an outlet for reporting and further assistance.”
VA’s launch of the new resources roughly coincided with the two-year anniversary of the PACT Act, which was signed into law by President Joe Biden on Aug. 10, 2022. The law expanded access to benefits and healthcare services for veterans who were exposed to burn pits and other toxic substances while on active duty, but has also led to an increase in predatory scammers seeking to defraud retired service members.
“We know that more veterans than ever before are now receiving VA benefits, which sadly means that more bad actors are trying to steal those benefits,” VA Secretary Denis McDonough said in a statement. “That’s why we’re launching these tools: to give these heroes every tool at the federal government’s disposal to protect themselves and their families.”
VA’s new VSAFE.gov platform provides veterans with resources to recognize, avoid and report scams ranging from those targeting their benefits to identifying theft and education fraudsters.
The website and call center were launched as part of the Veteran Service member and Family Fraud Evasion — or VSAFE — Task Force. The platform combines resources from a variety of federal agencies, including the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Federal Communications Commission, Federal Trade Commission and Social Security Administration.
Lawmakers have been increasingly vocal over the past year about VA’s need to bolster its fraud prevention services in the face of evolving predatory schemes.
In a July 31 letter to McDonough, Rep. Seth Magaziner, D-R.I., led a bipartisan group of 28 other lawmakers in warning the VA that the PACT Act’s passage had “led to the proliferation of scammers looking to take advantage of veterans or their survivors.”
“While we understand that the VA is attempting to raise awareness about these exploitative practices, more must be done to protect veterans from scammers,” they wrote, pressing the department to answer questions about its efforts to protect veterans from scammers.
Last November, Reps. Mike Bost, R-Ill. — who chairs the House Veterans’ Affairs Committee — and Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y. introduced legislation to establish a “Veterans Scam and Fraud Evasion Officer” within the department to oversee fraud prevention efforts.
Bost said in a statement at the time that their bill “would build on VA’s efforts to enhance their cybersecurity, fraud and scam protection efforts into one centralized place to protect veterans and keep pace with today’s digital world.”