Military Romance Scams on the Rise

guest · Aug 26, 2021

Military Romance Scams on the Rise
August 24, 2021
https://www.zerofox.com/blog/military-romance-scams-on-the-rise/

Scams targeting military members (and even their families) shouldn’t be a primary concern considering the sacrifices they already make for their country. Unfortunately, the droves of instances we see and the reports that come in daily paint a different picture.

In fact, the number of identity theft reports from service members is much higher when compared to non-military consumers. From 2017 to June 30, 2021, the FTC received over 800,000 consumer reports from service members, including veterans, active duty, reservists and their families. Total losses tally up to $822.1M, with 420,697 of these reports related to fraud.
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When it comes to military romance scams, in particular, a threat actor often poses as a service member in online dating forums (or otherwise) looking to build a trusted relationship. Once a victim is hooked, soliciting money for various service-related needs begins, ranging from transportation, communication, and medical expenses to marriage processing fees.

Again, once a scammer establishes the relationship, they will move to request funds. In this case, it is usually under the guise of costs to travel or as a plea for financial help in a staged emergency. For the scammed service member, the losses resulting from being involved in a romance scam are both emotional and financial in nature.
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There are several ways both military organizations and individual military personnel can fight back and keep themselves and their families protected. The first step to protect against any form of cyberattack is awareness. This applies equally to individuals, their families and organizations needing to protect employees, executives and those they serve. Download our whitepaper “Impersonation Warfare: Top Military Scams and How to Avoid Getting Caught in the Line of Fire“ to uncover the top scams facing the U.S. military as well as steps that can be taken to ensure increased protection for what’s already at our doorstep and what’s to come.
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guest · Aug 25, 2021

US military personnel defrauded into losing $822m through scams
August 23, 2021
https://www.hackread.com/us-military-personnel-losing-822m-scams/

The researchers examined data compiled by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC). They discovered that the most amount ($484.4 million) was lost by military families and reservists, followed by veterans and retirees whose financial damages account for 35% of all losses ($290.1 million).

Furthermore, active duty service members suffered losses of around $47.6 million since 2017, and this group submitted the least complaints.
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Romance scams, aka catfishing, topped the list of internet scams that the military personnel were found to be vulnerable to as threat actors lured out a whopping $92 million via these scams.

The median loss to romance scams stands at $2,400, while the FTC received a total of 7,120 romance scams complaints. The second most widely reported scam was miscellaneous investments as nearly $90.2 million to bogus investments, and the median loss hovered at $2,000.
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Veterans and retirees filed the most complaints
The report further revealed that veterans and retirees fell prey to a wide range of internet crimes, and the medical loss in this particular category is $700, while the median loss suffered by active duty service personnel was $600.

These two groups had cumulatively led over 836,374 complaints of identity theft, fraud, and other scams with the FTC. In contrast, reservists and military personnel families suffered 59% of all losses and submitted around 322,000 unique complaints.
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atlasVPN: US military personnel lost over $822 million to scams since 2017

Interestingly, romance scams, also widely known as catfishing, are at the top of the list.

The second most damaging internet crime for the US military members was miscellaneous investments. As much as $90.2 million were lost to bogus investments. The median loss is not that far behind romance scams, hovering at $2,000.
Third on the list is business imposters, a type of scam where fraudsters pretend to be a well-known brand to empty the pockets of their victims.

Government imposters are fourth on the list. Like business imposters, criminals pretend to be authoritative figures to steal money from unsuspecting victims
Finally, online shopping scams were the cause of $72 million in damages. Median losses are substantially lower than that of other scams, standing at $168.
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guest · Dec 6, 2021

Phishing Scam Targets Military Families
December 2, 2021

Threat researchers at Lookout are helping to take down a phishing campaign that has been targeting members of the United States military and their families.

The scammers behind the long-running campaign impersonate military support organizations and personnel to commit advance fee fraud, stealing sensitive personal and financial information for monetary gain.

“Based on our analysis, it’s clear that the threat actor is looking to steal sensitive data from victims such as their photo identification, bank account information, name, address and phone number,” wrote Lookout’s researchers in a blog post on the scam published today.
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The campaign’s backbone is a series of websites that have been designed to appear as though they are affiliated with the military.

The sites offer expensive services that are never delivered, or trick users into thinking that they are in a romantic relationship with a member of the military. Fake services offered include care packages, leave applications, and communication permits.
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Infrastructure indicators coupled with open-sourced intelligence point to Nigeria as the scammers’ operational base.

“The websites were primarily hosted by Nigerian providers that are offshore or ignore the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA),” wrote researchers.
So far, researchers have identified 50 military scam sites tied to this threat campaign, which further investigation showed was linked to other cyber-criminal activity.

“We were also able to link this group to numerous other scams advertising fake delivery services, crypto-currency trading, banks and even online pet sales,” wrote researchers.
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Lookout: Lookout Researchers Take Down Phishing Scams Targeting U.S. Military Families

Recently, researchers at the Lookout Threat Lab revisited a lead that a former colleague posted on Twitter last summer. In doing so, we dove headfirst into a long-running phishing campaign that, as of the publishing of this blog, is actively targeting families of United States military personnel as well as individuals interested in pursuing a romantic relationship with a soldier.

Based on our analysis, it’s clear that the threat actor is looking to steal sensitive data from victims such as their photo identification, bank account information, name, address and phone number. With this information, the actor could easily steal the victim’s identity, empty their bank account and impersonate the individual online.
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