Scam targets military spouses

Of all the things a military spouse must deal with, hearing that your mate has been injured while serving has got to be one of the absolute worst. To get that call and then find out it was just a scam is beyond comprehension.According to the American Red Cross, that is exactly what is happening to some military spouses. It starts with a call from someone with an American accent claiming to work for the Red Cross. The spouse is told that their husband or wife has been injured in Iraq and evacuated to Germany. The caller goes on to request personal information, such has Social Security number and date of birth, saying medical treatment cannot begin until they have this information. The result, of course, is a stolen identity.The Red Cross doesn't generally contact military members or their families directly, almost always going through a commander or first sergeant instead. Red Cross spokesperson Devorah Goldburg says "We know that it happened to one person; it was probably going to happen to others, and we wanted to be prudent and alert people," she said. Consider yourself alerted.