PITTSBURGH — The Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs says there’s an increase in scammers. They call the scam “pension poaching.”
“A lot of veterans in here they’ll answer to anybody on the phone, it’s somebody to talk to,” veteran Donald Kargle said.
A warning coming from the Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, or DMVA, urges veterans like Donald Kargle to be on the watch.
They say scammers are posing as attorneys, financial advisors or even veterans service officers. Anyone who might be eligible for VA pension benefits can be a target of pension poaching.
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“The primary goal for the scammers is to basically work with that veteran to get them to give up a portion of their benefits for those folks--scammers providing the services or potentially trying to take the entire pension,” Bureau of Veterans programs, Initiatives, Reintegration, and Outreach Director from the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs Joel Mutschler said.
The DMVA tells Channel 11 why Allegheny County is a prime target for this kind of scam compared to the rest of Pennsylvania.
“Especially in southwestern PA we’ve got a very high veterans population, in fact Allegheny County has the highest veterans concentration in the Commonwealth,” Mutschler said.
So, the DMVA is warning veterans, especially in our area, and reminding them that most of these services are supposed to be free.
If you get a call and it seems suspicious, government officials say you can look at the list of accredited representatives on the VA’s website. If the caller’s name doesn’t appear on there, they’re not approved by the VA. If the caller’s services are not free, that’s another red flag.
In the meantime, Kargle has some advice for those who are quick to pick up the phone:
“Me, when I get a phone call I don’t know, I don’t answer it,” he said.
The DMVA says if you’ve been a victim of one of these scams, you can reach out to the Pennsylvania attorney general’s office for help.
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