From the Better Business Bureau

Military Personnel Need to Beware of Fraudulent Website

[February 27, 2014]  PEORIA — Members of the U.S. Army and their families are the targets of a new scam using a website to collect service members Army Knowledge Online (AKO) email account and password information, according to the Central Illinois BBB.

The website called "My Army Benefits" is a fraudulent site, it falsely claims: "The US military has granted access to unclaimed and accumulated army benefits for the under listed active duty soldiers. Benefits not claimed within the stipulated period will be available for claims after 60 months." The website is not affiliated or endorsed by the U.S. Army according to the U.S. Army's Criminal Investigation Command (CIC).

This website scam is using a name close to the Army's official website of "MyArmyBenefits", the fraudulent site contains an .org domain name. "Official military websites will all have the .mil domain name," notes BBB Military Line director Brenda Linnington. "Any other domain extension should be a red flag." Other red flags include unsolicited emails/text messages, spelling/punctuation and grammar errors.

The Army's CIC provided the following advice for anyone who has received correspondence from the fraudulent My Army Benefits website or provided information through it:

• Do not log in to the website
   
• Do not respond to any emails
   
• Stop all contact if you have previously responded to any emails
   
• Immediately contact your local Information Assurance (IA) office if you accessed the website from a government computer or system.

The BBB Military Line was formed in 2004 to provide free resources in the areas of financial literacy and consumer protection to U.S. military communities through local BBBs across the U.S. and at bbb.org/military.

ABOUT BBB:

For 100 years, the Better Business Bureau has been helping consumers find businesses, brands and charities they can trust. In 2012, consumers turned to BBB more than 100 million times for Business Reviews on more than 4 million companies and Charity Reports on 11,000 charities, all available for free at www.bbb.org. The Council of Better Business Bureaus is the umbrella organization for 114 local, independent BBB's across the United States and Canada, as well as home to its national programs on dispute resolution and industry self-regulation.

[Text from file received from the Better Business Bureau of Central Illinois]