Defense Department officials say scammers are trying to get information and passwords from Army civilians, soldiers, retirees and family members.
The scam involves a website called “My Army Benefits,” which is nearly identital to the Army’s official website called “MyArmyBenefits.”
“The primary purpose of the fraudulent site is to collect soldiers’ Army Knowledge Online, or AKO, email accounts and passwords, officials said. It also makes the false claim that the U.S. military has granted access to unclaimed and accumulated benefits for active duty soldiers, and that benefits not claimed within the stipulated period will be available for claims after 60 months,” according to information released by the Department of Defense.
Soldiers, Army civilians, retirees and family members are strongly cautioned to ignore the website, do not log into the website and to immediately delete suspicious emails without answering them. If you have accessed the website from a government computer or system, you should contact your local information assurance office.
The scam site is called “My Army Benefits” and the most recent URL for it was http://www.usmilitarybenifit.org. Again, the DOD says this site is not affiliated with the U.S. Army.
The real “MyArmyBenefits” website is at http://myarmybenefits.us.army.mil.
“Most online scam attempts are easily recognizable, officials said, because they usually involve unsolicited emails or text messages. Hoax websites often contain misspelled words and punctuation and grammatical errors, they added, and often ask for private information such as an email address and password,” the DOD post said.
