QUANTICO, Va. (2/7/14) – The U.S. Army Criminal Investigation Command, commonly referred to as CID, is warning the greater Army community about a new website scam where criminals are potentially attempting to take advantage of Soldiers and their families.
The My Army Benefits website that is using the www.usmilitarybenifit.org web
address is not an official website. The website also claims to be the Official Army Benefits Website. But the organization is not affiliated or endorsed in any way with the United States Army.
According to CID Special Agents, the primary purpose of the website is to collect U.S. Army service members” Army Knowledge Online (AKO) email accounts and passwords. The bogus website also makes the false claim of that “The US military has granted access to unclaimed and accumulated army benefits for the under listed active duty soldiers. Benefits not claimed within the stipulated period will be available for claims after 60 months.”
CID strongly recommends that Soldiers, Department of the Army civilians, Army retirees and family members avoid this website and ignore any information or claims posted on the site.
Most online scam attempts are easily recognizable as they are usually unsolicited emails or texts; hoax websites that contain misspelled words, punctuation and grammatical errors, and often ask for private information, such as an individual”s email address and password.
Cyber-crime and Internet fraud presents unique challenges to U.S. law enforcement agencies as criminals have the ability to mask their true identities, locations and cover their tracks quickly. Websites and accounts can easily be established and deleted in very little time, allowing scam artists to strike, and then disappear before law enforcement can respond.
The ability of law enforcement to identify these perpetrators is very limited, so individuals must stay on the alert and be personally responsible to protect both themselves and their loved ones.
CID strongly recommends that Soldiers, civilians and family members who receive any suspicious and/or unsolicited emails should delete them immediately without response.
However, if you have provided any information to the My Army Benefits website or have received any correspondence from the website, take the following steps:
* Do not log in to the website
* Do not respond to any emails
* Stop all contact if you have previously responded to any emails
* Immediately contact your local Information Assurance (IA) office if you accessed the website from a government computer or system.
Other cyber-crime resources available are:
* Internet Crime Complaint Center
* Federal Trade Commission
* Computer Crimes Investigative Unit