By Thom Stoddert
Exploitation against veterans, especially the elderly, is so prolific in Washington state that Attorney General Bob Furgusson has made it a priority. Exploitation comes in a variety of flavors with all sorts of marketing schemes from across the United States. The following examples will help you recognize them and how they operate.
Recently the Washington State Veterans Legislature Coalition in Olympia passed around a flyer describing how an organization was able to obtain several toll-free telephone numbers exactly the same as the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA), except for one digit. So a caller making a dialing error reaches the phony who then asks for personal information such as a full social security number, credit cards numbers, and other personal information that the VA already has or doesn’t need.
When calling the VA, only the first letter of your last name and the last four numbers of your Social Security Number are wanted. They may at that time ask you to confirm your address to insure accuracy of their databases. Still the VA will never promise gift cards like these call centers do and the VA always answers 24/7 with a simple “Welcome to the VA.”
So be careful for identity theft and dial the VA’s number carefully. Any doubts, hang up and dial again. One helpful hint when calling the VA, wait until after normal business hours. Your call will automatically be forwarded to another office staying open late. They will provide the best service as the VA employee has more time to give you.
Too often telephone calls, TV advertisements, and mail almost explode in your face to solicit donations to a veteran charity. They will often describe how they do great things for hospitalized and homeless veterans. One such group called one evening with a very well practiced marketer from a call center. When I asked him “how do I know you are not a scam,” he replied “visit our website.”
So I did. The American Veterans Support Foundation is really a special project being undertaken by the National Vietnam Veterans Foundation and their website confirmed my fears.
The webpages told of their outstanding efforts for veterans along with lots of pictures of their director from Florida shaking hands with dignitaries. Yet all the phones numbers listed were to the marketing call center in the upper Midwest. A phone number I finally did get for the Florida office was never answered after numerous attempts; the answering machine said that its inbox was full.
A little research on Charity Navigators, www.CharityNavigator.org revealed that 84 percent of the National Vietnam Veterans Foundation’s budget goes to raising funds and only 12 percent went to veterans.
In other words, they never got off the bottom of Charity Navigator’s chart for reliability.
The next group of exploiters of veterans are the patriotic organizations of whom the only member is an insurance sales-person, a lawyer, and /or financial planner. The Federal agencies I spoke with call them “Pension Poachers.” They have wonderful patriotic names and operate just within the limits of the law.
If you ask them if they are a business or a veterans organization they will most likely say they are an advocacy group as Rob Elhardt, a former professional member of the American Association of Wartime Veterans and Kenneth Hadlock of the Veterans of America Aid & Assistance Association have done.
However, because they focus on only one of the many VA benefits, Pension/Aid & Attendance, they often distract the elderly veteran or spouse from receiving better paying benefits. They also jeopardize the veterans’ and spouses future VA and Medicare benefits.
Some of the exploiters even come with a VA accreditation of sorts, but the results are the same. The victim almost always buys a financial product of dubious value, unintentionally breaks the law, or is charged for unsolicited legal fees. Elder care facilities frequently have worked in cooperation with them. One such corporation has several facilities in Kitsap County.
Then, there are those standing in front of stores collecting donations for a veterans’ cause. Almost always the donations are for purchases of items the VA already provides. When you start asking questions, their stories start breaking down. If you pull out a camera they become the fastest sprinters in Puget Sound.
“Who should I give to,” I am often asked? There are many fine organizations that will use your money appropriately. The Old Soldiers Home in Retsil (360-895-4700) and the Wounded Warrior Project (206-441-7096) are very well established and respected.
My favorite is the USO at SeaTac Airport, (206-246-1908), email: seatacmanager@usonw.org. Many exhausted soldiers and veterans traveling with their families have benefited greatly with free food and safe place to sleep from the USO, all staffed with volunteers.
Finally, every county in the U.S. has a veterans’ board and they operate under very tight budgets. Still, all their money goes to a needy vet.