Active Duty Military - Help needed on possible scam

[SgtsWifeandmommyof4]

I just turned my screen at my hubby and said "look at that". He shook his head and laughed. Asking who made that?

SCAM!

 

[SgtsWifeandmommyof4]

I'm really worried about this poor woman. Is she giving him money? Part of this kind of scam is giving money saying that the military member can't afford to call home or worse wants to come visit from a deployment but needs airfare money. Please make sure she isn't emptying out an account for him.

Heck if nothing else you can just tell her being married to the military is not all it is cracked up to be. Certainly not like Officer and Gentleman Alot of the time it is like Beavis and Butthead

I concur!! Very well put.

 

[gr8leg8]

MARSOC is known as the Special Forces (Operations) of the Marine Corps. But as others have said, it wouldn't say that on his ID. Nevermind the different fonts, etc. I compared the ID to my husband's CAC card (he's AD MC) and there's a crazy amount of differences that it isn't even vaguely close to authentic. Hope your CW's sister listens to you!

Love, Love, Love the photo in your sig.

Took my breath away.
My parents are both photographers and they did a lot of weddings when I was little. Loved this pic.

 

[cm8]

Not to be offensive but your CW's sister sounds pretty desperate if she is willing to look past all these red flags.

All I can say is...Glad this is not my family or anyone I know! I'm just helping out my CW.

As of now, no request for money has been made nor has any money been sent.

Oh and as an update, I found out where the fake ID came from. It was lifted off of Ebay from a seller in China. Had the same watermark and everything.

 

[TandEsMommy]

While all branches have special forces, NONE of the military jobs are listed on your ID card. Can you imagine an Intel Specialist being captured, and his/her ID card proclaiming to the capturing party 'I HAVE A REALLY HIGH SECURITY CLEARANCE, AND I CAN TELL YOU WHAT WE KNOW ABOUT YOU!" We are all trained to provide name, rank, and serial number ONLY in the event of capture--why in the world would they put other information (besides DOB) on your ID card, particularly sensitive information like that?

Second, all active duty members are required to update their CAC card upon any change in rank. And as PPs have mentioned, expiration dates are not that far in the future; there is a hologram on the front; the photos are taken with a very small "webcam" type of camera in your local personnel office. These are nothing like portrait studios, don't have the flag background, and produce mildly crappy photos. The actual barcode is on the back, AND there is a goldish chip on the front that allows the computers to read the information contained on the card when you log into a government computer. This is true of all branches, active, reserves, and guard.

Also, ID cards are not "really" issued by the branch of service. They are issued by the Department of Defense, and have a place to denote the member's branch.

But the entirety of this thread will not be enough to convince CW's sister if she is really "in it." The easiest way to show her he is not who he says he is--he has access, on ANY military base ANYWHERE that has a computer, to his government email. Both DH and I have used our "official" government emails for various personal business; as long as it's not sensitive information or over-used, this is allowed and common. Have him send her an email directly from his government email, that she can then reply to and receive a response back. All military emails will be in the same format:

firstname.lastname@(name of base).(branch of service).mil So if someone named John Doe is in the Air Force and is stationed at Patrick AFB, their email will be john.doe@patrick.af.mil The person's name, rank, and office symbol will also show up (at least DH's does when he emails me). There is ZERO reason why he should not be able to do this if he is legit (which I have no doubt he is NOT after that ridiculous image).

 

[sookie]

Thanks everyone.

CW has gone to some friends in local law enforcement already as well as she contacted the local USMC recruiter who was very interested and took all the details. She also sent the information to NCIS.

While everyone would hope the guy is legit (for the sister's sake), we all know it's not. The sister however thinks my CW is overreacting and everything is fine.

new update though...he sent her his picture while he was deployed. Guess what...it was a link to a picture on a USMC website. Not a scanned picture or one from his phone or anything. Another red flag that she fails to see issue with.

that is really, really sad. sounds like she WANTS to be taken advantage of!!

 

[Kies99]

Just a little update on this....

...CW and I don't ever really expect to hear any resolution about this (other than hopefully the sister comes to her senses), but sounds like the USMC are taking this seriously. CW has received and update that they are looking into this and have provided a couple of steps they are taking. The update was more than a form letter (though I won't go into details) so for the USMC! Hopefully they can do something to this guy.

 

[JB2K]

Everyone is saying report it and turn him in. To where? He gave her a fake name and info! She can report it to the authorities but they might not even be able to do anything about it. What does she have beyond a name that is probably fake and a email address? For all we know he is in Nigeria or something.

Sure, we know all that is fake, but he's logging-in from a computer (or other device) from somewhere, isn't he?

That's how posers like this "Marine" are usually discovered...

 

[JB2K]

firstname.lastname@(name of base).(branch of service).mil So if someone named John Doe is in the Air Force and is stationed at Patrick AFB, their email will be john.doe@patrick.af.mil The person's name, rank, and office symbol will also show up (at least DH's does when he emails me). There is ZERO reason why he should not be able to do this if he is legit (which I have no doubt he is NOT after that ridiculous image).

The e-mail address format has changed for U.S. Air Force members (or is in the midst of change) -- it is now firstname.lastname@us.af.mil -- meaning like the rest of the services, AF e-mail addresses are no longer tied to a specific base (and can move with the servicemember).

 

[cm8]

Just a little update on this....

...CW and I don't ever really expect to hear any resolution about this (other than hopefully the sister comes to her senses), but sounds like the USMC are taking this seriously. CW has received and update that they are looking into this and have provided a couple of steps they are taking. The update was more than a form letter (though I won't go into details) so for the USMC! Hopefully they can do something to this guy.

Thanks for the update

The e-mail address format has changed for U.S. Air Force members (or is in the midst of change) -- it is now firstname.lastname@us.af.mil -- meaning like the rest of the services, AF e-mail addresses are no longer tied to a specific base (and can move with the servicemember).

 

[danceintherain]

Heck if nothing else you can just tell her being married to the military is not all it is cracked up to be. Certainly not like Officer and Gentleman Alot of the time it is like Beavis and Butthead

Or one of those scenes in a movie where everyone is standing in an elevator (not my marriage specifically, but the lifestyle).

firstname.lastname@(name of base).(branch of service).mil So if someone named John Doe is in the Air Force and is stationed at Patrick AFB, their email will be john.doe@patrick.af.mil The person's name, rank, and office symbol will also show up (at least DH's does when he emails me). There is ZERO reason why he should not be able to do this if he is legit (which I have no doubt he is NOT after that ridiculous image).

Good plan. I think ours are becoming more standard, but still very difficult to hack.

I really hope she comes to her senses. If she really wants to be in a relationship with someone in the military, there are military bases EVERYWHERE!

 

[Cautious1]

As someone who uses Photoshop extensively in the QD section of our crime lab, I can tell you that the edit job this person used is complete crap. For example, look closely at the fonts. They aren't even the same. Also, every legit military ID we have ever seen has a holographic overlay these days. Really screws up the image big time when scanned (for precisely this reason!)

I asked a few guys over in QD to look at it and they all laughed. It's not a good job, this one.

Msmit002:

If you’re available to take a look at another one, I have an ID I would really appreciate you taking a look at. I’ve been corresponding with a young lady who says she’s a CNA (nurse) with the U.S. Army at a base in Burundi, which is a small country in central Africa. She sent me a copy of her ID, but it appears to be a digital copy and I have other suspicions as well. Any help you can offer would be most greatly appreciated!

 

[NinaBella]

Darn, the link doesn’t work for me. Looks like the picture was deleted.

 

[starry_solo]

Darn, the link doesn’t work for me. Looks like the picture was deleted.

I looked too, even though this thread is 5 years old!