SCARS Institute’s Encyclopedia of Scams™ Published Continuously for 25 Years
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 victimization. This is especially true with military impersonation 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 scam 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 imposter /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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What do you think about this?
Please share your thoughts in a comment below!
Table of Contents
To Understand All Scams
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The SCARS Institute Relationship Scams Formula Checklist
This is the Formula that all Relationship Scams Follow
In the U.S. & Canada
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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 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.