Ok folks Grandma Star is going to get on her soap box a bit.

Many know I have a special place in my heart for those who follow the call to Service of Country. While I unabashedly love my country that extends to many nations were the hardships of service life are many.

What I am seeing more often are the true underbelly of life on the web, and Mingle. Which are people who trade on the good name and multitudes of photos that are able to be copied of service members to create FAKE personas and try to exploit the love, admiration, and all to often the blind trust we feel for those who protect and serve. It goes from the very young minor ranks right on up to the most senior commanders. I might add alive and even more shameful deceased. No service or country is immune. Sadly almost as fast as one can be reported another will pop up.

Use good sense here. A few simple steps apply.

Every service member has a chain of command they identify with. If they are not willing to tell you, the public they serve their Name, rank, and unit address; then they are a fraud. It is not information that anyone can use to exploit them and they know it so there should be no hesitancy for them to give you that verification information.
I can't tell you the number of legit soldiers I have verified over the years to loves of their life so this is not about cramping the style of anyone who loves a service member. Which I personally endorse as worth every minute you invest.

All service members have a photo id and have a current full length photo of themselves in uniform name tag fully visable in their military records which they can easily copy and share well before you get into the hearts and flowers stage. Why?;because they know how often scammers make their life miserable.

Also all USA military members and most of our allies are given APO addresses that they can receive personal mail and packages at in a very timely fashion. Yes in certain countries restrictions apply but they can and should tell you that so DO NOT send contraband tobacco, photos, food; AND NEVER, NEVER, NEVER MONEY!!!

NO LEGIT SERVICE MEMBER HAS A NEED for you to ever WIRE them MONEY or phone cards because if they need to contact anyone regards emergency communication the INTERNATIONAL Red Cross will assist them with confidential communications to their dependents, parents, siblings, and stateside chaplains that are more than glad to forward messages. Sorry as a girlfriend you don't have a lot of status but believe you me if you are a spouse they will bend over backwards to help you with up to the minute information and support. But true emergency communications are almost non-existent with the availability of cell phone service even live video feed from most military installations. So if you can not lay eyes on a service member that matches the pictures they are sending you well sorry you have been HAD.

Please do NOT be duped by stories of "dependent" children in need either. SOME THING the military takes very seriously are it's dependent children. Service members are required to have a plan of care for their children and provide support and their is an entire division dedicated to making sure that any military family member has a near by representative and help to turn to when needs present. I personally guarantee you that there is not a commander in the service that wants his career to come to a court martial for failing to act on the needs of a child in his chain of command.


Chances are 99% of fraud is not by a service member but some thug in some boiler room down the block from where you live because this is one of the easiest scams to pull off.

You can forward the names, copies of correspondence, ect to Criminal Investigative Division (CID) easily found on any Military Scammer site or Military site or even your local recruiter but I can pretty much guarantee you if they ask you for money they have seen the photos thousands of times over. If you report a scammer to Mingle they are very timely in removing the one you report but I have seen the same photos resurface time and again with different names, spellings, and details. Sometimes clipped and cropped or flipped so be patient.

Use common sense most military members don't have the time or need to set around trying to hustle a date on public media. They are young, healthy, have income,transportation, and long hours of training and work to attend to with young peers available to date when they have leave time. Many have had "Dear John" dumps from people they know in person so if they are telling you they are madly in love with you they are not going to drag it out with long winded letters they will show up and put a ring on it.

Good to know, thanks for sharing

Thanks PK It is sad that so many nice people miss out on giving a great service member a chance and having a wonderful relationship because a few creepizoids.

Well my hat is off to all service men and women you have gone before us is going now and will go after us. They may gain a lot but they lose a lot...They fight hard to protect us and for that I say "Thank you." When I see someone in uniform I always stop and shake their hand and just say thank you for protecting our country." I just wish I could see the others that have already been then a I could tell them the same thing. But if by chance you stop by here I'm saying the samething to you also "Thank You for serving our country also."