An American Airlines flight out of Florida made an emergency landing Thursday night after a written bomb threat was found in a bathroom, officials said.
Scam artists are calling veterans and posing as VA workers who need credit card information to update prescription information, as part of a scheme that fraudsters have recycled over the years. “America’s veterans have become targets in an inexcusable scam that dishonors their service and misrepresents the department built for them,” said Dr. Gerald Cross, the VA’s undersecretary for health. “VA simply does not call veterans and ask them to disclose personal financial information over the phone.” The scam callers say the VA has changed its procedures on dispensing prescriptions, so it needs the credit card numbers. “VA has not changed its processes for dispensing prescription medicines,” Cross said. “Nor has VA changed its long-standing commitment to protect the personal information of this nation’s veterans.”
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Other schemes targeting veterans and active members of the military have surfaced over the years, including high-priced life insurance sales, payday loans, car title cons, repair scams and fraudulent discounts. “In Harm’s Way,” a 2003 report by the National Consumer Law Center, concluded that service members often are targeted because of their predictable pay days and a military culture that encourages orderly finances.
