Better Business Bureau warns veterans of fake e-mail scam

From press release

The Better Business Bureau (BBB) is alerting veterans about a potentially dangerous e-mail being circulated by someone claiming to be an attorney with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).

The BBB warns veterans against using the services of a group called Veterans Affairs Services.

Dennis Horton, director of the Rockford Regional Office of the Better Business Bureau serving Chicago and northern Illinois said: “The BBB Military Line, a complaint resource specialized for the military and their families, has received several inquiries about an e-mail sent from Michael Daugherty. They confirmed with the VA that he is, in fact, an attorney with the VA Office of General Counsel but did not send the e-mail and that no e-mails of this nature are being sent by the VA.”

Additionally, the BBB has confirmed that the e-mail was sent by Jon Thompson, whose e-mail address is jkt6@comcast.net, and advises anyone who receives the email to not click on the link in the e-mail. You should never click on links in e-mails that are from unknown sources as they may contain viruses.

The VA advises veterans seeking the assistance of a VA-recognized service organization for purposes of submitting a claim for VA benefits to search at the General Counsel’s Accreditation search page.

For more information about online scams, visit bbb.org.

From the Dec. 15-21, 2010 issue