Online Threat Alerts (OTA) - Alerting you to scams and frauds.
Veterans Choice Program 1-800 Phone Scam

Scammers have created a phony or fake Veterans Choice Program telephone number that they are using to target military veterans. Therefore, military veterans are asked to be careful of the telephone number they call when attempting to contact the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Health Care call center.

How does the Veterans Choice Program Phone Scam Work?

The legitimate Veterans Choice Program call center telephone number is 1-866-606-8198, so what the scammers have done is to create a phony or fake telephone number somewhat similar to it. The fake number is 1-800-606-8198. The difference between the legitimate number and the fake one is, the legitimate one starts with 1-866 and the fake one starts with 1-800. The scammers did this because they know that people are accustomed to 1-800 numbers.

  • Real number: 1-866-606-8198
  • Fake number: 1-800-606-8198

Once the potential victims call the fake number, they will get a message claiming they are entitled to some so-called rebate or benefit. They will then be asked for their credit card information in order to receive what they were promised. Once the scammers receive the information they will charge the credit cards.

Veterans who have already been tricked are asked to contact their local authorities and banks for help. Their banks should be able to cancel the fraudulent transactions and refund their money. The victims may need to get new credit cards to stop the scammers from continuously charging the current ones.

For information about the Veterans Choice Program and to how to reach their call center, veterans can visit the following website.

The Veterans Choice Program is a new, temporary benefit that allows eligible Veterans to receive health care in their communities rather than waiting for a VA appointment or traveling to a VA facility.

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