Fake military recruiting websites duped millions of students, potential recruits
Rebekah L. Sanders
At least 14 fake military recruitment websites tricked potentially millions of people into giving their contact information to telemarketers, according to a complaint by the Federal Trade Commission.
The sites falsely claimed they would not share personal information.
In reality, the telemarketers sold the personal information to other marketing companies and contacted people who submitted information to promote "military friendly" colleges instead of military service, the FTC lawsuit said.
The copycat websites, which included www.army.com and www.navyenlist.com, looked similar to official military recruiting websites, were featured in online ads when people searched how to join the military and did not clearly notify visitors that the sites were not sanctioned by any U.S. military branch, the complaint said.
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"When schools and marketers collude to steer young people away from military service, it enriches them but costs all of us," Federal Trade Commissioners Rohit Chopra and Rebecca Kelly said in a written statement. "The fake military recruiting scheme ... harmed young people looking to serve their country, as well as the public more broadly. Not only was the alleged conduct unlawful, it was also un-American."
Colleges complicit in scam
The case illustrates a disturbing trend of marketing companies using deceptive tactics to collect personal information, the commissioners said.
The "lead generation" industry makes money by harvesting vast amounts of personal data on Americans to sell to companies or schools looking for new customers or students, Chopra and Kelly wrote.
Companies and schools purchasing leads need to work harder to ensure information is obtained legally and ethically, the commissioners said.
Too many are "turning a blind eye," the commissioners said.
"Their failure to oversee their vendors raises serious concerns," Chopra and Kelly wrote. "We should all be worried that some institutions of higher education see students as nothing more than potential revenue and are willing to turn to outfits employing unsavory tactics to meet their financial objectives."
The lawsuit mentioned one college involved in the scam: Grantham University, an online, for-profit school based in Kansas.
The names of other schools listed in the lawsuit were redacted.
Chopra and Kelly called on the five-member commission to vote "in the public interest" to release the names of all schools and companies that purchased information from the fake military-recruitment websites.
$12 million in fines
The defendants were Christopher Upp, Mark Van Dyke, Lon Brolliar and Andrew Dorman with the companies Sun Key Publishing, Fanmail.com and WhereData.
A U.S. District judge ordered the defendants to pay more than $12 million in fines and stop using websites to deceive customers.
However, the fines will largely be suspended because of the defendants' inability to pay, the FTC said.
The scam websites used these addresses:
- www.air-force.com
- www.airforce.army.com
- www.airforceenlist.com
- www.airgaurdenlist.com
- www.army.com
- www.armyenlist.com
- www.armyreserves.com
- www.coastguardenlist.com
- www.marinecorps.army.com
- www.marinesenlist.com
- www.nationalguard.army.com
- www.nationaguardenlist.com
- www.navy.army.com
- www.navyenlist.com
The websites attracted more than 100,000 unique visitors per month, the FTC said. Some sites were active as far back as 2010.
Online ads for the websites used phrases such as "The Army wants you!" and "Join U.S. Army Reserves," the lawsuit stated.
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Telemarketers hired by the defendants made millions of calls to people who signed up on the websites, frequently violating the federal Do Not Call registry, according to the FTC.
In some cases the telemarketers pretended to be military officials, the FTC alleged.
The defendants also sold contact information to other marketing companies for $15 to $40 per person, the complaint said.
"(T)his was all a ruse," Chopra and Kelly said. "While it is difficult to quantify the damage done to Americans whose dreams were crushed or whose time and money were wasted, there is no question that the injury was substantial and cannot be undone."
Beware of scam websites seeking personal information
- Before filling out forms or applications on a site, find out more about who is requesting your information and for what purpose by doing an online search for the site operator with words like “complaint” or “review.”
- If you think you have gotten a call from a government imposter, report it to the FTC at FTC.gov/complaint.
- For official information about joining the military, visit the U.S. Department of Defense's recruitment website at www.todaysmilitary.com.
Source: Federal Trade Commission.
Are you the victim of a scam? Has a business or government agency taken advantage of you? I'm #HereToHelpAZ. Contact consumer investigations reporter Rebekah L. Sanders by emailing rsanders@azcentral.com, texting "HereToHelpAZ" to 51555 or filling out our online form.
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