Service to one’s country represents the highest honor that can be achieved. The Veteran’s Association reports that there are nearly twenty-two million former members of the military spread across the country. As honored as veterans are in this country, these twenty-two million veterans may be at risk for scams if they decide to purchase a new or used car. What are the details of the military car scam and how can a person minimize their chances of being scammed?
Easy Pickings
In an age of freelancing and part-time jobs, the military is a bastion of pay certainty. Holly Petraeus, wife of four-star general David Petraeus, notes that scams against military members are on the rise on account of the fact that they receive regular paychecks twice per month. Regular payment means that scam artists who live near bases not only have a lot of targets, but have particularly ripe ones. Reports of auto scams along with bogus product sales have followed military members who aren’t sure what they’re buying.
Lending Process
A major factor in the reason why scammers go after military members involves the ease by which a veteran can apply for a loan. Veteran’s Associations loans have many advantages for a borrower, including no down payments and a relatively low credit score threshold. With the potential to borrow over $400,000 in one sitting, scammers know that a veteran has access to cash that a civilian may not, even if a civilian has a higher credit score or income. As such, many car sellers will market their vehicles toward military personnel due to the availability of a VA loan. It’s possible to prevent scams and identity theft if you’ve got access to a loan and are looking for a safe purchase, but you need to find out what is most sensitive. Theft protection companies like LifeLock point out the various weaknesses that scammers target, from Social Security numbers to military IDs. By clamping down on sensitive data, it makes it far more difficult for a scammer to dupe you or a fellow military member.
Credit Checks
They teach you many things in the military, but awareness about credit usually isn’t one of the lessons learned. Military members who hand over their credit card to a dealer are not always sure what they’re paying for. Such was the example of an Air Force sergeant profiled in Edmunds, who reported that hepaid $1000 for a bogus price quote from a car dealer who told him after the quote that he owned the car and needed to sign the papers. The sergeant managed to launch a lawsuit and recoup his money, but his is one of the few tales with a happy ending. Much more often, a soldier, sailor, or airman submits their signature on the dotted line and either walks away with much less than they expected, or nothing at all.
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