Veterans · Security
The other 'benefit tech' wants a fee, a code, or your password.
FTC numbers keep climbing. Recut defensive briefing: fake apps, near-miss URLs, and paid middlemen.
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Sign Up One Stop Shop · 2026-08-12
Active-duty troops, Guard, veterans, and families reported hundreds of millions of dollars in fraud to the FTC in 2025. The scripts are not creative. A caller posing as VA or DFAS. A website with a near-miss URL. An app in a sideload store that wants your Login.gov password. A page that says you must pay to release a 'secret' COLA or PACT payout.
VA does not charge to apply. Accredited VSOs do not need your password. Anyone who asks you to install remote-control software to 'fix your claim' is not helping you.
A short defensive checklist
Type VA.gov, TRICARE.mil, milConnect, and TSP.gov yourself. Do not click the ad. Confirm accreditation on VA's own search before you let anyone file. Keep a unique password and an authenticator on the identity account. If you already sent money or a code, report it to IC3 and your bank, then call VA through the number on VA.gov — not the number in the text message.
This channel will keep walking official portals on camera so you can match what you see. If the site in front of you does not match the briefing, close it.