Scammers target US troops with 'Good Samaritan' phone theft scheme

The father of a sailor is warning the military community about a “Good Samaritan” scam that cost his son thousands of dollars.

On July 2, two men approached the young sailor, claiming they had lost their wallets and needed help paying for a hotel room.

“The men gained possession of his phone under the pretense of entering reimbursement information electronically,” the father wrote in an email to Military Times. “Shortly afterward, he discovered an unauthorized transfer from his Navy Federal Credit Union account.”

Rising Threat to Service Members

Young service members are increasingly targeted by financial scammers, who in recent years have employed tactics ranging from romance and investment schemes to fraudulent debt-relief offers and rental and housing scams during PCS season. Military spouses have also been targeted.

The Federal Trade Commission reported that military consumers—including active-duty personnel, veterans, and families—lost $584 million to fraud in 2024.

Incident Details

The incident with the sailor, who is stationed in Suffolk, Virginia, occurred around 5:30 p.m. in the parking lot of a Wawa in Norfolk.

The scammers used his banking app to transfer a large sum of money, according to Norfolk Police Department spokeswoman Noel Lipieko.

“These scams only take seconds to complete,” Lipieko said. “Detectives say entry-level military personnel do appear to be disproportionately impacted by scammers and remind everyone to always be cautious about letting someone you don’t know use your cell phone, by politely declining or offering to call for help on their behalf.”

The investigation into the incident is ongoing.

‘Digital Mugging’

Carrie Foran-Sepulveda, vice president for fraud and physical security strategy at Navy Federal Credit Union, described the scam as “digital mugging.” NFCU has seen an increase in these parking lot scams over the last few years, she said.

Military-connected consumers are particularly vulnerable to scams because of frequent moves and changing addresses, said Jason Stverak, chief advocacy officer for the Defense Credit Union Council.

Prevention and Response

Defense credit unions use a multi-layered approach to fight fraud and scams, Stverak said. These efforts include:

• Consumer education and employee training
• Extensive oversight of financial systems through real-time transaction monitoring
• Alerts that allow members to confirm or deny suspicious activity
• Other checks and safeguards

Financial institutions, tech companies, government agencies, and law enforcement are working together to find ways to prevent these scams and help victims recover money when possible.

Advice for the Military Community

“I know the military community is a very giving community,” Foran-Sepulveda said. However, handing someone an unlocked phone “is the difference between handing them a $20 bill and handing them your whole wallet,” she said. “Even the kindest, most generous person is not going to say, ‘Take my ID, take my credit cards, take everything.’”

Parking lot scammers have also used other tactics, such as feigning an emergency, to gain access to a person’s phone and money. Beyond in-person encounters, fraudulent phone calls, emails, and texts have proven to be frequent mediums for scammers.

A scammer may pretend to be someone else or send a text message that appears to be an innocent wrong number before steering the conversation into precarious territory. The unpaid toll violation notice is another common scam, and some have reported receiving calls about being imminently arrested for not showing up for jury duty.

Foran-Sepulveda says Navy Federal and other financial institutions are taking steps to educate their members about the ever-evolving scams.