“[In] the military you have a young population on the web. But the low-priced car never arrives and the easy-to-find apartment they've rented is already occupied. “It’s especially despicable it’s directed at our service members at a time they’ve been risking their lives for us overseas for several years,” Petraeus said. has the most robust and powerful military in the world, and though its fighting men and women can win wars, they often appear defenseless against popular online scams. Service members are targeted by websites that claim to offer special military discounts on everything from cars to apartments for rent. civilians under the same guise of patriotism, Christopher Grey, spokesman for the U. Scammers prey on the victims’ “kindness, patriotism and (sometimes) romance,” which compromises the good name of the military, Grey explained.

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They ask you to: Did you know you can do an image search of your love interest’s photo in your favorite search engine?

If you do an image search and the person’s photo appears under several different names, you’re probably dealing with a scammer.

“They [build] up a huge story about who they are, they are heroes and serving the country,” Grey said. “They are very poetic, they are very savvy,” Grey said.

“People fall for the ploy, and some people are sending them money.” Scammers ask for everything from laptop computers to money for airfare so they can fly back to the U. “Luring these women in and they take them for their money.” Victims have been cheated out of up to ,000.