This is a common occurrence, but I think most people like me are unaware of it. Here is the scenario: a person is contacted by someone on a dating website, Facebook, and etc. The person claims to be in the military currently serving in Afghanistan or Iraq and will be coming home soon. The couple continues to chat, and the "scam artist" will claim his/her undying love, send presents or gifts, call, email, text, ask for commitment, etc. Then the scam artist will ask for some type of money; it could be for medical expenses for themselves or family, for t2 phone communications, for leave papers and expenses, anything you can think of- the point is that money in some fashion will be requested. The people requesting the money are not the real and true military personnel in Afg/Iraq, but are scam artists that have taken the pictures from the real military personnel and are using them to instill trust, loyalty, and devotion with their victims. Please be cautious releasing your personal information and/or photos to anyone unless you have verified his/her identity. Military personnel have special email addresses that they can use to verify their identity.
