Protect yourself—and your benefits

More than 7 million veterans currently have open accounts with the Departments of Veterans Affairs and Defense eBenefits website, so it’s as important as ever for veterans to know how to best protect their earned benefits from fraudulent activity.

Although the website has not been hacked, the VA has on occasion reported that individual accounts have been illegally accessed.

“VA takes fraud allegations and the security of veterans’ information seriously. Since 2015, just .06181 percent of VA’s active eBenefits accounts have been accessed fraudulently,” said Susan Carter, VA director of media relations. “VA relies on a Department of Defense authentication service called DS Logon to secure online access to eBenefits. VA has been collaborating with DOD on enhancements to strengthen DS Logon’s security further, including through multifactor authentication. For additional questions regarding DS Logon security, we refer you to DOD.”

DAV turned to its partner Identity Guard and their vice president of creative and brand, John Clarkson, for tips on how to further protect your benefits. Here are five ways to help protect yourself:

1. Don’t give out your Social Security number. We’re accustomed to filling out forms for practically everything, from gym memberships to rental agreements, and it’s important to not become too comfortable with giving out your personal information. Start training yourself to question the necessity of the information before committing to paper or electronic file.

2. Don’t hang onto unnecessary financial documents. Shredding is an essential part of your identity protection, especially for all those pre-filled credit card applications you have no intention of completing. Keeping these documents filed in your house can leave you vulnerable in the event of a break-in. Be proactive and shred any outdated financial documents, tax records, insurance forms and mailed pre-filled forms.

3. Don’t ignore suspicious activity. If your credit card is declined unexpectedly, or if you start receiving calls from debt collectors for payments you didn’t make, then it’s time to take action. Ignoring the critical signs of identity theft could only make your problem worse.

4. Don’t use public Wi-Fi to access private information. Unsecured public Wi-Fi networks could make it extremely easy for hackers to see sensitive information you’re entering online or in any of your bank apps.

5. Don’t use one password for all accounts. Using only one password makes hacking into your accounts that much easier for cyber criminals, so create a unique password for each account, even social media profiles that you might not think are as important. Protect your passwords carefully; use special characters, numbers and case-sensitive letters to make it that much harder for identity thieves.

Veterans who suspect they have been the victim of fraud should call the VA at 800-827-1000 as quickly as possible or contact the VA’s Office of the Inspector General via telephone at 800-488-8244 or email at vaoighotline@va.gov.