Veterans' Services

Town of Whitman, MA 02382

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Retreats Aid Couples

Project Phoenix provides help to couples whose

marriages are affected by combat deployments

and their emotional aftermaths by sending the

couples on retreats. The retreats are open to

combat veterans of all ages and branches of

the service. Commanders or colleagues may

recommend participants for a retreat.

Participants can also sign up for the program

themselves by filling out an application.

Use this link for more details on Project Phoenix

Notices

Agent Orange Update The VA has just expaned the area to included the waters off Vietnam as a presumtive AO infected area. This means veterans' and family members of veterans' who served in the waters may be entitled to benefits/disability. You should contact the VA immediately to open a claim. For more info on AO click here

Returning from War

The Veterans Administration (VA) has published several guides that help service members and their families make the transition when a loved one has returned home from war. They are full of information to help military personnel and their families understand what to expect when returning from a war zone, and help them to better adapt back to home life including coping with Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. These guides are available at http://www.ncptsd.va.gov/topics/war.html.

President Signs Veterans Benefits Bill

President Bush recently signed legislation that will improve benefits and health care for America's veterans and their families along a broad front. The legislation, S. 3421, the Veterans Benefits, Healthcare, and Information Technology Act of 2006, includes $3.2 billion in funding to enhance veterans' benefits and health care, secure sensitive personal information, authorize VA health care facility construction nationwide, $65 million to increase the number of clinicians treating post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), expands tele-health initiatives invaluable to rural veterans, increases the number of community-based outpatient clinics able to treat mental illnesses.

Learn more about Veteran's Health Care by visiting www.military.com/benefits/veterans-health-care.

News Updates & ID Theft Notice

Free Canes For Veterans

Can-Am Care, LLC, announced this week the "HUGO Salutes Our Veterans" program to provide free folding canes to World War II and Korean War Veterans. The HUGO Folding Canes with Interchangeable Handles will be provided at no charge to Veterans who may be in need of mobility assistance. According to Can-Am Care, the program is instituted to recognize the support and efforts members of the United States Armed Forces made for our country during World War II and the Korean War. Can-Am manufactures the HUGO Folding Cane and a number of related mobility assistance products.

Veterans are encouraged to contact Can-Am Care toll-free at 1-888-412-4992 Monday - Friday, 8 am - 6 pm EST or www.HUGOSalutes.com. Proof of service may be required

ID THEFT WARNING

This one really does check out.

JURY DUTY SCAM:

This has been verified on Snopes.com (link listed below) and by the FBI (their links are also included below).

Fall for it and your identity could be stolen, reports CBS. In this con, someone calls pretending to be a court official who threateningly says a warrant has been issued for your arrest because you didn't show up for jury duty. The caller claims to be a jury coordinator. If you protest that you never received a summons for jury duty, the scammer asks you for your Social Security number and date of birth so he or she can verify the information and cancel the arrest warrant. Give out any of this information and bingo! Your identity just got stolen.

The scam has been reported so far in 11 states, including Oklahoma, Illinois, and Colorado. This (scam) is particularly insidious because they use intimidation over the phone to try to bully people into giving information by pretending they're with the court system. The FBI and the

federal court system have issued nationwide alerts on their web sites, warning consumers about the fraud.

Check it out here:
http://www.snopes.com/crime/fraud/juryduty.asp
http://www.fbi.gov/pressrel/pressrel05/092805.htm
http://www.fbi.gov/page2/j une06/jury_scams060206.htm

http://www.idtheftcenter.com/alerts.shtml

ID Theft Info

Steps you can take on ID theft

We all have heard horror stories about fraud that is committed on us in stealing a name, address, Social Security number, credit cards and etc.

Next time you order checks, put only your initials instead of your first and last name, use your work phone number, use a P.O. address if you have one or work address. Never print your Social Security number on your checks.
Do not sign the back of your credit cards. Instead put “Photo ID required”.
When paying credit cards by check do not put the complete account number on the “for” line instead use only the last four numbers. The credit card company knows the rest of the number and no one else will have your account numbers.
Photocopy the contents of your wallet. Do both sides of each credit card and license. You will know what you had in your wallet and all the account numbers to call and cancel. Keep the photocopy in a safe place.
When you check out of a hotel that uses cards for keys (and they all seem to do it now) do not turn the “keys” in. Take them with you and destroy them. Those little cards have all of the information you gave the hotel including address and credit card numbers with expiration dates. Someone with a card reader can access all that information with no problem whatsoever.

Steps to take if your ID is stolen

· Cancel your credit cards immediately. The key is having the toll-free numbers and your card numbers handy so you know whom to call.

· File a police report immediately in the jurisdiction where the theft occurred

· Call the national credit reporting organizations immediately to place a fraud alert on your name and Social Security number. That alert means that any company that checks your credit knows your information was stolen, and they have to contact you by phone to authorize new credit (and this does work). If you call only one you can request they notify the others (this also works).

· Here is the information you will need to contact about your loss:

*Equifax (800) 525-6285,or www.equifax.com

*Experian (888) 397-3742, or www.experian.com

*Trans Union (800) 680-7289, or www.transunion.com

*Social Security Administration (fraud line) (800) 269-0271 Additionally, you should file a complaint with the Federal Trade Commission by using the FTC Identity Theft Hotline at (877) 438-4338, or www.consumer.gov/idtheft