Military Families Lose Hundreds of Millions to Scams Each Year

For many military families, threat awareness is second nature.

Service members are trained to think about risk. Spouses learn to adapt through deployments, permanent change-of-station moves and long stretches of uncertainty. Operational security becomes part of family vocabulary. Trust, urgency and chain of command aren’t abstract ideas. They are part of daily life.

In a sit-down interview with Military.com, Ian Bednowitz, General Manager of Identity and Privacy LifeLock, said those same realities are increasingly being exploited by scammers and identity thieves targeting military-connected families.

Military families are losing hundreds of millions of dollars each year to fraud, according to reported consumer complaint data, but experts say the real number is likely far higher because most cases never make it into official statistics.

And unlike a fraudulent credit card charge that gets resolved with a phone call, identity theft can spiral into something much bigger: damaged credit, drained accounts, emotional distress, family conflict, and months, or even years, of recovery.

“People are always surprised by the scale of it,” Bednowitz told Military.com. “That’s only what’s reported to the government. Estimates suggest the actual losses are dramatically higher.”

For military-connected families, the risk is often greater than for the average American, not because they are careless, but because military life creates exactly the kind of openings fraudsters look for.

“These scams work better on military families because they lean on trust, urgency, and authority,” Bednowitz said. “Those are the instincts military families rely on every single day.”

Military Life Creates Perfect Openings for Fraud

Identity theft isn’t random. Fraudsters look for moments of transition, distraction, emotional stress and incomplete information. Military life often creates all four.

Every PCS move generates a flood of administrative activity: change-of-address forms, housing paperwork, utility account setup, school transfers, insurance updates, banking adjustments and shipping logistics.

Each transaction creates data. Each piece of data becomes another breadcrumb.

And unlike civilians who may stay in one location for years, military families repeat that cycle again and again.

Deployments create another opening. Mail goes unchecked. Bank alerts may be missed. Spouses are managing households under stress. Communication can be delayed or inconsistent. And time is a fraudster’s best ally.

“The longer you don’t catch it, the more damage they can do,” Bednowitz said.

Fraud involving new accounts like credit cards, loans, and financing can be especially dangerous because victims often don’t realize anything has happened until significant damage is already done.

Unlike fraudulent charges on an existing card, entirely new accounts may not be immediately visible unless someone is actively monitoring credit activity.

Military families can also face scams tailored specifically to their circumstances. A caller claiming to be from TRICARE says coverage will lapse unless payment is made immediately.

A message claims deployment paperwork is incomplete.

Someone posing as a government official demands urgent action related to benefits.

A distressed voice claims a deployed spouse has been injured.

These aren’t hypothetical.

“These are personalized tactics,” Bednowitz said. “And now they can be deployed at scale.”

This Is No Longer a Guy in a Hoodie

Many Americans still imagine scams as crude emails from obvious fraudsters. Bad grammar. Ridiculous offers. Fake overseas royalty.

That mental model is outdated.

“People still think about the Nigerian prince scam,” Bednowitz said. “Those days are long gone.”

Today’s threat landscape is industrialized. Fraud rings increasingly operate like professional organizations, using call centers, automation, stolen datasets, spoofed communications and artificial intelligence.

That scale changes everything.

AI can rapidly collect publicly available personal information from social media, public records, breached databases and data brokers, which are companies that legally collect and sell consumer data.

Military members may be especially exposed because details such as duty history, locations, affiliations and family information can be easier to piece together.

A fraudster no longer needs to manually research a target. Software can do it.

“AI can search for this information at scale,” Bednowitz said.

The Deepfake Threat Is Personal

Artificial intelligence has also introduced a disturbing new weapon: impersonation. Voice cloning tools can replicate a loved one’s speech with startling realism. Deepfake technology can create convincing fake audio, or increasingly, video.

For military families already accustomed to stressful separation, that creates dangerous emotional vulnerabilities.

Imagine a parent receiving a frantic call that sounds exactly like their deployed child. Or a spouse hearing what appears to be a legitimate plea for help.

“You hear the voice, you think it’s real, and your brain turns off,” Bednowitz said.

His advice is simple: create a family safe word. Not a guessable answer to a personal question. Not a birthday.

A unique, private word known only within the family. In moments of panic, that word becomes a verification checkpoint.

Even voicemail can create exposure, Bednowitz warned, since voice recordings can potentially be harvested and replicated.

Military families often understand operational security in traditional terms. Don’t discuss movements. Don’t disclose sensitive information. Don’t overshare.

But social media has changed how exposure happens. Vacation announcements, deployment countdowns, school affiliations, family photos, location tags and children’s online activity can collectively provide a detailed profile.

That information may seem harmless in isolation. Together, it becomes targeting data.

“Share the vacation photos when you get home,” Bednowitz said.

He recommends setting family social media profiles to private whenever possible and limiting real-time location sharing. That applies to children, too.

Teenagers may be especially vulnerable, not only because they overshare, but because they often assume they can recognize threats.

Scammers are counting on that confidence.

Identity Theft Isn’t Just Financial. It Can Become a Family Crisis.

The public conversation around identity theft often focuses on money. But the consequences can run much deeper.

Victims may spend months untangling fraudulent accounts, contesting charges, filing reports and restoring credit.

That administrative burden alone can be overwhelming. But the emotional effects can be worse.

“People worry about meeting their financial commitments,” Bednowitz said. “They have increased problems with spouses and loved ones. They feel vulnerable. They feel exposed.”

In some cases, the psychological toll becomes severe. That matters for military families already managing separation stress, operational uncertainty and financial pressures.

A fraud event doesn’t happen in isolation. It lands inside a system that may already be stretched.

And unlike some other crimes, victims often feel embarrassed.

“They feel shame,” Bednowitz said. “And because of that, people don’t talk about it.”

That silence can make the problem worse.

Transitioning Veterans Face a Different Kind of Risk

Leaving military service can create another high-risk window. Transitioning service members are often:

• Job hunting
• Updating résumés
• Connecting on professional networks
• Evaluating benefits
• Navigating uncertainty
• Dealing with financial pressure

Fraudsters know it. Fake recruiters, fraudulent job postings, résumé harvesting scams and phishing attempts increasingly target vulnerable job seekers. LinkedIn, email and text messaging have all become attack vectors.

“Someone who is looking for the next opportunity can fall victim to those things pretty fast,” Bednowitz said.

The emotional dynamic matters. Urgency lowers skepticism. Desperation shortens verification.

A “great opportunity” can feel worth the risk when bills are due.

That’s exactly the environment scammers exploit.

Kids May Be the Most Overlooked Targets

Parents often assume children aren’t attractive targets because they don’t have assets. That assumption can be dangerously wrong.

A child’s identity is incredibly valuable precisely because it is clean. “If someone gets a child’s Social Security number, that’s gold,” Bednowitz said.

A criminal can use that information to create synthetic identities, open accounts or build fraudulent credit histories that may remain undiscovered for years.

Military children may face additional exposure through frequent school transfers, medical record movement, dependent documentation, social media presence, and family relocation paperwork. Parents can proactively check whether a child has a credit file.

In many cases, they shouldn’t. If one exists unexpectedly, it may indicate fraud.

The Biggest Mistake: Thinking You’re Not a Target

The most dangerous misconception may be simple denial.

Some assume their bank will catch fraud. Others believe multi-factor authentication alone solves the problem. Some think they’re too insignificant to attract attention.

But scammers aren’t necessarily targeting wealth. They’re targeting opportunity.

And once someone engages, even by answering scam calls, that can create additional exposure.

“As soon as you answer, you’re signaling it’s a live number,” Bednowitz said.

Victims may be targeted repeatedly. Criminal organizations often recycle successful leads.

What Military Families Can Do

Bednowitz and public fraud resources recommend several immediate steps.

Use active duty fraud protections: Service members can place active duty alerts that trigger heightened lender verification and reduce pre-screened credit offers.

Treat unsolicited outreach with skepticism: Never rely on inbound contact alone.

Verify independently: Call known numbers. Visit official websites directly.

Use strong authentication: App-based authentication is generally stronger than text-message verification.

Protect social media exposure: Reduce publicly visible personal details.

Create a family safe word: Especially important for deepfake-era impersonation threats.

Watch transition periods carefully: PCS moves, deployments and military separation create heightened risk.

If You Think You’ve Been Hit, Move Fast

Time matters. If identity theft is suspected:

• Freeze credit immediately
• Contact financial institutions
• Change passwords
• Document suspicious activity
• Enable stronger account protections
• Report the theft through official channels

Free help is available through federal recovery resources such as IdentityTheft.gov and nonprofit victim support organizations.

Paid protection services such as LifeLock and others may also offer monitoring and recovery assistance.

But Bednowitz’s strongest message was about speed. “The biggest mistake is waiting,” he said.

Embarrassment can delay action. Uncertainty can create hesitation. That hesitation benefits the fraudster.

For military families, the takeaway may be uncomfortable but necessary: This isn’t someone else’s problem. It’s part of the modern threat environment.

And preparation matters.

“This is no longer a question of if,” Bednowitz said. “It’s when.”