Avoid scams that target military members and families | MOAA Updates

July marked Military Consumer Month

Why have 31 days dedicated to the military consumer? There are more than half a billion reasons

Military members, veterans, and military families reported losing $684 million to fraud in 2025

according to the Federal Trade Commission. Whether it's a romance scam, a planned targeting service earned benefits

or an AI-produced email that mimics a military-connected bank or credit union

the military community is at higher risk of fraud of all types

And now, scammers are even taking advantage of those seeking to protect themselves from fraud

The FTC is warning service members that some scammers are reaching out to those about to deploy

and pretending to offer credit monitoring services. They take your information as part of a so-called protection plan

then use it to take out loans or lines of credit in your name. Some simple steps can help you avoid becoming a victim

Don't respond to unsolicited emails or texts, and if you're being asked to act quickly

it's probably a scammer trying to keep you from doing your research. For more tips on scam prevention, visit moa.org slash scams

A recent Senate Armed Services Subcommittee hearing discussed the strength of the TRICARE

Pharmacy Network. More than 13,000 pharmacies have left the TRICARE Network since 2022

About 46,000 remain, including 16,000 independent pharmacies. Even with the departures, more than

98% of beneficiaries have a participating pharmacy within a 15-minute drive, which more than satisfies

contract requirements. But does the setup lend itself to a world-class health benefit

One owner of a community pharmacy that left the network told senators that his customers now face

longer lines and less personal attention when filling in their prescriptions at other locations

For years TRICARE beneficiaries could choose the pharmacy that served them best For most that was a community pharmacy like mine that provides a higher level of personal care

easier access, same-day medications, packaging, med-sync, immunizations, delivery, compounding, and a pharmacist that knew their family and their situation

Now many pharmacies like mine have been forced out of the Tricare program

And an official with the American Pharmacy Cooperative told the panel that in some cases

brick-and-mortar retail options could be cheaper than filling prescriptions through mail order. Groups like MOA have worked with Congress to keep the brick-and-mortar network robust

as a necessary part of serving rural TRICARE users, as well as those with frequent or complex medication needs that may require special attention

More than six years ago, the Army published proposed new rules restricting eligibility for burial at Arlington National Cemetery

Thousands of public comments came in, mostly from people against the changes, and any plans

to act on those changes went dark. But at a recent congressional hearing, an official with the Office of Army Cemeteries

said that the service would be revisiting the rule. No specifics were provided

The original proposal came after a directive in the Fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization

Act asking the Army to preserve cemetery capacity. The plan would have excluded many 20-year retirees from in-ground burial at Arlington

and it included no mechanism to grandfather in veterans under existing eligibility rules

Officials at the time estimated the cemetery would run out of space by 2041 under existing

eligibility rules or by 2060 with a planned expansion that would allow for 80,000 additional

gravesites. For more headlines from around the Uniformed Services community, visit moa.org slash news