AG Moody Kicks Off November Patriot Protection Week Campaign

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—With November being National Veterans and Military Families Month, and Veterans Day being honored on Wednesday, Attorney General Ashley Moody is promoting consumer protection resources available for service members, veterans and their families throughout the week. Attorney General Moody will be reminding service members and families about beneficial resources and offering tips about military-related scams on Twitter. To follow Attorney General Moody’s Patriot Protection Week campaign, click here, or search Twitter for #ProtectOurPatriotsOAG.

Attorney General Ashley Moody said, “As we observe National Veterans and Military Families Month, I encourage all Floridians to take the time to thank and honor our service members and veterans, as well as their families, who sacrifice so much daily. I believe we have a duty to protect the more than 1.5 million veterans and service members who call Florida home from scammers aiming to exploit their courage and service.

"This Patriot Protection Week, we aim to educate our military and veteran families with helpful resources, tips and information on how to avoid scams that target our patriots."

Attorney General Moody invites all service members and veterans to review these general tips to help avoid military-related scams:

• Beware of scammers using misleading photos or language to imply false association with a branch of the military;
• Verify the authenticity of an email or text that appears to be from a military branch. Phishing schemes use manipulated messages that falsely appear to be from a military branch or the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs in an effort to target service members, veterans or family members;
• Ensure that any military charity soliciting funds is registered with the state’s Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services at FDACS.gov/ConsumerServices; and
• Place an active-duty alert on credit reports at no cost. An active-duty alert requires businesses to take additional steps before granting credit in the name of active-duty personnel serving overseas.

The Attorney General is also issuing a new Scams at a Glance: Protect our Patriots brochure to add to the successful Scams at a Glance program. The program aims to teach consumers about common and emerging scams. The latest Protect our Patriots edition focuses on military-targeted scams. To view the brochure, click here.

In July, Attorney General Moody released her 2020 Military Consumer Protection Resource Guide. The guide offers additional information about common scams targeting service members, veterans and their families. To download the guide, click here.

The Attorney General’s Office also has a Military and Veterans Assistance Program to help raise awareness and assist service members and veterans on the types of scams that target their communities. The MVAP program has a specialized team of consumer protection investigators, with many being active or retired service members themselves, who work directly with service members, veterans or their representatives to help resolve consumer protection-related issues. For more information about the MVAP team, click here.

If you suspect a scam targeting our service members, veterans or their families, please report it to the Attorney General’s Office by calling 1(866) 9NO-SCAM or file a complaint online at MyFloridaLegal.com.