SCARS is proud to be supporting a significant study on the extent and impact of Solten Valor.
A MIXED-METHODS STUDY OF STOLEN VALOR AND MILITARY IMPOSTERS: THE IMPACT OF DECEPTION
This study is completely confidential and private – your identity will never appear or be shared.
This study will better help to identify the impact of fake soldier scams and online deception associated with the use of stolen identities of U.S. Military Personnel.
You are invited to take part in this research study.
The information in this form is meant to help you decide whether or not you qualify to take part.
If you have any questions, please ask at stolenvalor@AgainstScams.org
What is the reason for doing this research study?
Military imposters falsely claiming to have performed military service or claiming to have served in a different compacity than their actual assignment is not a new phenomenon; however, it continues to be an ongoing problem with increased victimizationVictimization Victimization (or victimization) is the process of being victimized or becoming a victim. The field that studies the process, rates, incidence, effects, and prevalence of victimization is called victimology.. This is especially true with military impersonationImpersonation An impersonator is someone who imitates or copies the behavior or actions of another. There are many reasons for impersonating someone, such as: part of a criminal act such as identity theft, online impersonation scam, or other fraud. This is usually where the criminal is trying to assume the identity of another, in order to commit fraud, such as accessing confidential information or to gain property not belonging to them. Also known as social engineering and impostors. romance scams!
While the motivations for posing as a member of the military or exaggerating one’s service recovery, the intent is almost always about gaining the respect and admiration of others. A spike in military imposters arose post 9-11 as it allowed a new generation of stolen valor and military imposters to fake being a military hero to scamScam A Scam is a confidence trick - a crime - is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust through deception. Scams or confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, irresponsibility, or greed and exploiting that. Researchers have defined confidence tricks as "a distinctive species of fraudulent conduct ... intending to further voluntary exchanges that are not mutually beneficial", as they "benefit con operators ('con men' - criminals) at the expense of their victims (the 'marks')". A scam is a crime even if no money was lost. others.
Stolen Valor can manifest in many different ways:
- Exaggerating military service or awards received.
- Falsifying military service when someone never served.
- Military impersonation scams – impersonating someone in the military.
The goal of this study is to examine the impact of individuals being deceived by a military imposterImposter An impersonator is someone who imitates or copies the behavior or actions of another. There are many reasons for impersonating someone, such as: part of a criminal act such as identity theft, online impersonation scam, or other fraud. This is usually where the criminal is trying to assume the identity of another, in order to commit fraud, such as accessing confidential information or to gain property not belonging to them. Also known as social engineering and impostors. /deceiver.
To examine the impact of those, the goal is to get at the answers to the following research questions:
- What impact do military imposters have on the individuals they deceive?
- To what extent did the results on the deception’s impact agree with the emergent themes from individual interviews of the victims of military imposters?
This researcher aims to gain a rich understanding of the experiences of individuals deceived by military imposters. The results of this study will be compared to the findings of the previous qualitative research to examine facets of the same phenomenon. This study will introduce this phenomenon as a social problem as it places a burden on society is important in social work practice.
What will be done during this research study?
Information will be collected through this short survey.
This will include asking participants questions to gain a rich understanding of their experiences directly caused by military imposters. The survey will be divided into three categories.
- The first section: is to collect information to provide researchers with an understanding of basic demographics.
- The second section: will assist researchers to understand your direct impact during your interaction with the military imposter.
- The third section: the survey form will ask a series of questions to understand the impact after you learned you were deceived by the military imposter.
This survey should take no longer than 30 minutes to complete. This is completely confidential and your name will never be shared.
You will be first asked to consent to your participation in this confidential study.
Please remember that this is very important to help us all understand the true impact of military impersonation!
Study Survey Form
THE STUDY HAS BEEN COMPLETED
THIS PAGE IS BEING RETAINED FOR FUTURE REFERENCE
If you have questions about this research study, here is the contact information for the participants:
- Our Lady of the Lake Institutional Review Board chair Dr. Carmichael at 210-434-6711, ext. 2402, or by email, at irb@ollusa.edu
- Tyleen Caffrey, doctoral student, at tecaffrey19fl@ollusa.edu or her faculty advisor, Dr. Shibikom at afshibikom@ollusa.edu
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SCARS GREEN BOOK
Self-Help Self-Paced Recovery Program Guide
LEARN HOW TO RECOVER ON YOUR OWN
This program is designed to help scam victims struggling to recover on their own and for those who want to understand the overall process. You can be using other resources, such as traumaTrauma Emotional and psychological trauma is the result of extraordinarily stressful events that shatter your sense of security, making you feel helpless in a dangerous world. Psychological trauma can leave you struggling with upsetting emotions, memories, and anxiety that won’t go away. It can also leave you feeling numb, disconnected, and unable to trust other people. Traumatic experiences often involve a threat to life or safety or other emotional shocks, but any situation that leaves you feeling overwhelmed and isolated can result in trauma, even if it doesn’t involve physical harm. It’s not the objective circumstances that determine whether an event is traumatic, but your subjective emotional experience of the event. The more frightened and helpless you feel, the more likely you are to be traumatized. Trauma requires treatment, either through counseling or therapy or through trauma-oriented support programs, such as those offered by SCARS. counselingCounseling Counseling is the professional guidance of the individual by utilizing psychological methods especially in collecting case history data, using various techniques of the personal interview, and testing interests and aptitudes. A mental health counselor (MHC), or counselor, is a person who works with individuals and groups to promote optimum mental and emotional health. Such persons may help individuals deal with issues associated with addiction and substance abuse; family, parenting, and marital problems; stress management; self-esteem; and aging. They may also work with "Social Workers", "Psychiatrists", and "Psychologists". SCARS does not provide mental health counseling. or therapy, qualified support groupsSupport Groups In a support group, members provide each other with various types of help, usually nonprofessional and nonmaterial, for a particular shared, usually burdensome, characteristic, such as romance scams. Members with the same issues can come together for sharing coping strategies, to feel more empowered and for a sense of community. The help may take the form of providing and evaluating relevant information, relating personal experiences, listening to and accepting others' experiences, providing sympathetic understanding and establishing social networks. A support group may also work to inform the public or engage in advocacy. They can be supervised or not. SCARS support groups are moderated by the SCARS Team and or volunteers., or completely independent – on your own!
The SCARS Steps program is a complete program and is provided for the purpose of helping scam victims to overcome this experience. Throughout this SCARS Steps Program, we speak about issues and challenges that a victim may have and help guide them through their recovery. But each person is different and it is important to understand your own reasons for being vulnerable to being scammed.
After the trauma of being scammed, you need to take steps to recover and move on. This may be an alternative to counseling in the short term, but we still encourage you to seek out professional help & support. Throughout this SCARS Steps Program, we speak about issues, challenges, defects, or problems that a victim may have in a generalized way.
The SCARS GREEN BOOK will help you recover from your scam offline and it will always be there when you need it!
SCARS SLATE BOOK – Let Us Explain What Happened!
A Guide For Families & Friends Of Scam Victims
HOW TO HELP ROMANCE SCAM VICTIMS FOR FAMILIES & FRIENDS OF SCAM VICTIMS
This SCARS Publishing book represents a complete guide to help the families and friends understand how these scams work and how to help the victim.
The SCARS Slate Book should be purchased by family and friends to better understand what happened to the victim and the traumatic impact on them. But it can also be shared by the victim so that they do not have to explain to family and friends about the scam. This publication is to help others to help Scam Victims to make it through this traumatic experience and recover.
Each person is different and it is important to understand how relationship scamsRelationship Scam A Relationship Scam is a one-to-one criminal act that involves a trust relationship and uses deception & manipulation to get a victim to give to the criminal something of value, such as money! Click here to learn more: What Is A Relationship Scam? work and why people are vulnerable; to being scammed, how they were lured in, then groomed and manipulated. This understanding is essential in helping them through the process of ending the scam and then on to recovery. The SCARS Slate Book will provide the information necessary to help support a victim through this process.
SCARS RED BOOK
Your Personal Scam Evidence & Crime Record Organizer
ORGANIZE YOUR INFORMATION TO MAKE THE REPORTING PROCESS SIMPLE!
Helps you get and stay organized. This publication is to help Scam Victims organize their crime information. Complete this information before reporting to the police then bring this book with you
Before or after reporting to the police the RED BOOK gives you a dedicated tool to record all the essential facts of this crime. The Victim, the Scammers, the Money, and your Police interactions. Everything that really matters can be easily recorded for your immediate use and for the future!
As we have seen, money recovery/repayment programs can become available years after the scam ends and you need to keep all the details of this crime in case it is needed. We have also seen scammers being extradited to the U.S. and other countries, this will help in the event you testify or give statements, Additionally, this helps you have your information ready to qualify for victims’ benefits, compensation, or aid.
The Official SCARS RED BOOK is your way of recording all the important facts of this crime so that you do not lose essential information, Complete the RED BOOK then put it away with the confidence that you will have it if or when it is needed.
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Thanks to your website I was shocked to find his picture here. We met on facebook and chatted for hours for 3 days I suspected that he was a scammerScammer A Scammer or Fraudster is someone that engages in deception to obtain money or achieve another objective. They are criminals that attempt to deceive a victim into sending more or performing some other activity that benefits the scammer. by day 3 as he was supposed to be an army general but he had very poor use of English and didn’t spell correctly. Hmm I decided to check him on been verified and that led me here. It’s really a sickening feeling to realize you are a fool. But I’m thankful I didn’t lose any money to him but did have my phone shut off because of him they claimed I was a scammer as well. Of course I am innocent. The saddest part of all this the guy was acting so religious and used God so many times and I thought I was talking to a nice army guy. This was a real eye opener for me.thank you so much for your website.
Janice, you are not a fool, and you proved it by listening to the red flags and verifying “him.” Consider yourself a smart person, though intelligence is no real defense. You discovered what the defense is – listening to yourself and your concerns and not dismissing them. You might be surprised to know that you were probably talking to 2 or even 3 different criminals, they often work in shifts to maintain 24-hour contact with victims. So count your blessings that you dodged this bullet.