Scam Awareness for Veteran’s Day: How Families Can Help Keep Veterans Safe

This Veteran’s Day, we recognize the service of millions of Americans. But honoring veterans should also mean protecting them from scams that exploit their trust, their service history, or their concerns about benefits or financial security.

Key takeaways

• Older adults reported around $3 billion in fraud losses in 2025, with prize and sweepstakes scams among the schemes that disproportionately affect them.
• Veterans can face scams tailored around their service, benefits and trust in government institutions.
• A pause, independent verification and a judgment-free conversation with family can stop a scam before it grows.

The latest FTC data shows how serious the financial impact of scams has become. Older adults reported roughly $3 billion in losses to fraud in 2025, up from about $600 million in 2020. Investment scams accounted for more than $1 billion of those reported losses, while older adults were also disproportionately affected by tech-support, prize and sweepstakes, romance, government impersonation and family impersonation scams.

For veterans, the tactics may come with a military-specific twist. In AARP research, 39% of veterans said they had been contacted by someone claiming to represent the VA or another government agency, while 28% felt their veteran status had made them a target. More than one in four respondents said they had lost money to fraud.

A real-life story

An 81-year-old retired U.S. Navy Chief Petty Officer from Tennessee, believed he had won $1 million and a car in a sweepstakes. The caller said there was just one catch: he needed to pay $500 in “taxes” first.

The veteran was told to buy MoneyPak cards and send the codes, while keeping the supposed winnings secret. The requests didn’t stop with a couple of payments. They grew into wire transfers, a large loan, and monthly installment payments. By the time his family intervened, the man had reportedly lost more than $100,000 and was close to risking his home.

His story is a painful example of how sweepstakes scams can affect anyone, even someone aware of similar scams targeting seniors. The retired navy chief told Military.com that he had seen scam warnings before and believed he would never fall for one.

Common scams that target veterans

Veterans and military families may encounter:

• Fake VA or government representatives asking to “update” records, unlock benefits or resolve a problem
• Offers to help with benefits, pension claims or military records in exchange for an upfront fee
• Bogus veteran charities seeking donations
• Investment, employment, rental or discount offers designed specifically around military service
• Prize and sweepstakes calls that demand taxes, gift cards or wire transfers before a “win” can be released

The VA does not charge veterans to apply for benefits, and it will not unexpectedly ask for sensitive personal information by phone, text or email.

A few habits that can make a real difference

If a call, message or offer involves money, benefits or an unexpected prize:

• Pause before replying, paying or sharing information.
• Don’t pay taxes, fees or “processing costs” to collect a prize. A legitimate prize will never require you to make a payment before receiving it
• Never share gift-card numbers, one-time codes, banking credentials or your SSN with an unsolicited caller.
• Verify independently. Use the official VA website or a number you already know, rather than a link or number supplied in the message.
• Talk about suspicious approaches early, without embarrassment. Family members and trusted friends can provide an important second opinion.

If someone has been targeted or lost money, report it to the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov, the FBI’s IC3, or the VA’s fraud resources at VSAFE.gov, including its hotline at 833-38V-SAFE.

How Bitdefender helps protect your family from scams

Scams can arrive through a text message, a social-media ad, a phone call, a search result or a message that appears to come from someone familiar. Bitdefender Family Plans add practical layers of scam and malware protection across the devices your family uses. They can help detect dangerous links and phishing pages before they’re opened, flag suspicious SMS messages, and identify scam attempts in popular chat apps such as WhatsApp, Messenger, Telegram and Discord.

For an unexpected message, link, offer or call, Scamio can provide a quick second opinion. Bitdefender’s Link Checker is also available to check whether a URL may be malicious before anyone clicks it.

These tools can’t replace conversations with parents, grandparents or other loved ones. They provide an additional safety net, helping families pause, check and make safer decisions before money or personal information is shared.