The Army’s main criminal investigative organization is sounding the alarm on social media is scams where cyber crooks impersonate service members.
In a May 28 release, the U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command’s Computer Crime Investigative Unit warned about romance, sales and advance-fee scams.
CID said it regularly gets notifications from people who have been defrauded online by someone who claims to be a soldier. These scammers use soldiers’ name and social media photos to commit a crime, and increasingly often use fake Common Access Cards to further fool their victims.
Another scheme with a recent uptick entails crooks sending a letter demanding money or embarrassing information about the soldier will be released to his or her spouse. The soldier then has to pay a bitcoin ransom to avoid the alleged secret to be exposed.
CID recommended soldiers search for their name on various social media platforms to see if anyone is impersonating them. Service members should also do an image search of their social media profiles photos. Those who find themselves impersonated online should contact the social media platforms and report the fake profiles immediately, CID said.