Miliary honors are performed at a funeral on April 10, 2023, at Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery in Killeen, Texas. (Rose L. Thayer/Stars and Stripes. )
Grieving families planning the funerals of their recently deceased veterans are now the target of scammers, according to a warning from an Army Casualty Assistance Center.
The office is urgently reminding people that military honors at funerals are at no cost, and no one will ever call seeking payment or a deposit for those services.
Donell Bowser, casualty supervisor with the Casualty Assistance Center at Fort Bragg, N.C., said funeral homes in the surrounding community and throughout the southeast have reported families receiving phone calls from people posing as members of the armed forces, an honor guard or government employees.
They will then demand immediate payment by credit card or through money-transfer applications, claiming it is a refundable insurance policy. The scammer then threatens that their veteran’s military honors will be canceled without the payment.
In one instance presented to Bowser’s office, the scammer requested the family send $1,500 through Apple Pay or Zelle.
“The key red flag is when they ask about paying anything because it’s free,” Bowser said.
If a family member planning a funeral receives a call like this, Bowser recommends hanging up and reporting what happened to their funeral home. The funeral director is always the main point of contact for families and is the person responsible for scheduling military honors, Bowser said.
The Department of Veterans Affairs continuously warns veterans to be vigilant of scammers looking to exploit earned benefits. A key indicator of a scam is requests for payment using unconventional methods such as wire transfers, Bitcoin, prepaid debit cards or gift cards.
Scam calls can be reported to the Federal Trade Commission at reportfraud.ftc.gov.
The Army Criminal Investigation Division said it does not have an open investigation into any scams targeting families arranging military funeral honors. However, if someone would like to report such activity to its office, a report can be filed through the website at www.cid.army.mil/tips.
