We must be ‘Battle Buddies’ for military veteran victims of fraudulent abuse

On battlefields, soldiers have traditionally teamed up with ‘Battle Buddies’ so that no one is left behind. The authors encourage practitioners to help prevent and detect elder fraud, especially among military vets — a particularly vulnerable population.

Military veterans and retirees trusted John J. Woods, an established money manager in Chattanooga, Tennessee, to invest their money. He promised that the fund Horizon Private Equity III — offered by his firm, Southport Capital — would yield a return of 6 to 7%. And for 13 years, he apparently delivered. But then in 2020, another money manager at the firm observed employees shredding Horizon documents, and he couldn’t find disclosures from the fund on the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) website. 

The SEC learned of possible fraud and began investigating. The agency discovered that Woods hadn’t invested in a diverse portfolio; he’d been operating a Ponzi scheme. The SEC shut down his operation in 2021. Woods was sentenced in February 2024 to nearly eight years in federal prison for defrauding 400 investors — many who lost their life savings and retirement accounts. At the end of July 2021, Horizon investors were owed more than $110 million in principal investment amounts; $49 million was never recovered.

Elder veterans are uniquely at risk of fraud

The U.S. Census Bureau reports that the population of will increase from 58 million in 2022 to 82 million by 2050 — a staggering 47% growth. But with this surge in population comes heightened vulnerability to financial exploitation and fraud — a form of elder abuse that costs $28.3 billion annually in the U.S.

Even though we focus primarily on U.S. cases in this article, elder fraud is a worldwide a problem, with experts describing it as “a virtual epidemic in high-income countries.” According to Nasdaq’s 2024 Global Financial Crime Financial Crime Report, older victims accounted for $77.7 billion of all reported global fraud. Woods’ Ponzi scheme is just one example of a broader issue.

Despite the prevalence of these crimes, older adults remain among the most underserved victim groups often because of such barriers as disabilities, and limited access to preventive education or resources. While awareness and education are critical to equipping older adults with necessary tools to identify, avoid and report financial scams, many remain unsure of how to protect themselves.

Here we focus on unique risks to veterans within the broader context of elder financial abuse and exploitation. We aim to present a multidimensional perspective on this issue and encourage further developments in policy and research that rely heavily on collaboration. And above all, we encourage practitioners to be “Battle Buddies” for vulnerable older vets. (See sidebar “‘Battle Buddy’ website could help protect elder vets” at the end of this article.)

Prevalence and scam tactics

Elder financial exploitation has been described as a major public health and economic challenge with perpetrators employing tactics such as government impersonation, robocalls, lottery scams, tech support fraud and more.

In the U.S., financial scammers disproportionately target veterans and exploit their military service and benefits. AARP, an organization that advocates for older adults, indicates that service members and veterans are more likely than civilians to be targeted with fraudulent solicitations — 35% versus 25%, respectively. According to the AARP, veterans and their families reported more than 93,000 fraud cases to the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) in 2023, resulting in financial losses of $477 million. 

A 2021 survey of 851 active and former U.S. military and nonmilitary (civilian) adults age 18 and older found that common scam attempts included fraudulent offers of increased benefits, lower mortgage rates or charitable donations to veterans in need. Fraud schemes affecting older veterans also include sweepstakes and contests, health products and in-home care services, fake charities, home improvement scams, equity skimming, and banking or wire fraud. 

Among the most pervasive scams, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) has identified unwanted calls — including malicious caller ID spoofing and unlawful robocalls — as the top consumer complaint. Also, according to AARP, 86% of veterans have encountered benefits and charity-related scams in 2023, with half reporting financial losses.

Veterans are also 9% more likely than civilians to receive fraudulent calls and 10% more likely to receive fraudulent text messages. The AARP survey further highlights that veterans experience higher volumes of robocalls, spam emails and suspicious text messages compared to their civilian counterparts.

 

Alarmingly, nearly half of AARP survey respondents reported signing over their U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) pension or disability benefits to fraudsters. This particularly insidious scam affecting veterans is known as pension poaching — a scheme in which perpetrators pose as VA advisers, government officials or representatives of charitable organizations. These perpetrators persuade veterans to transfer their pension payments to various fraudulent accounts, invest in fake financial schemes or apply for VA benefits. Victims who are falsely approved for VA benefits must repay the money once they’re determined to be ineligible. (Pension poachers primarily target veterans, but perpetrators have also started defrauding others nearing retirement or in the later stages of their career because the prospective victims are about to receive substantial gratuity payments or retirement compensation.)  

These perpetrators persuade veterans to transfer their pension payments to various fraudulent accounts, invest in fake financial schemes or apply for VA benefits. Victims who are falsely approved for VA benefits must repay the money once they’re determined to be ineligible.

Challenges in reporting and identifying cases

Elder fraud remains significantly underreported because of psychological, social and systemic barriers. Many victims are embarrassed and ashamed, or fear judgment and loss of independence, which discourages them from coming forward. This reluctance is particularly evident in romance scams, where older victims may believe they’d formed genuine relationships before realizing they’ve been deceived. Beyond financial losses, victims often have profound physical and psychological effects, including breathing and sleep disturbances, high blood pressure, anxiety, depression, and in severe cases, suicidal thoughts and actions. Studies show that adults 65 and older make up a disproportionate percentage of suicide cases.

Practical barriers also can complicate reporting and investigations. Some older victims — particularly those with cognitive impairments or limited digital literacy — may struggle to recall the details of the frauds or recognize when they were targeted.

Recognizing the unique vulnerabilities of older adults, the U.S. government enacted the Elder Justice Act (EJA) in 2010 to improve detection and response to reports of elder abuse, including financial exploitation. While other policies exist with a similar purpose, the EJA developed foundational resources for the protection of older victims and the prosecution of their offenders. However, reporting barriers — including difficulty in distinguishing legitimate services from fraudulent schemes and inaccurate prevalence data — hinder the EJA. And data might be skewed or inaccurate because many of these crimes go unreported. Efforts to address these challenges must include enhanced public awareness, stronger initiatives and improved support systems to encourage victims to come forward.

Criminal justice response and prosecution

Investigative efforts and law enforcement challenges

The fight against elder financial abuse and exploitation, especially pension poaching targeting veterans, requires the collaborative efforts of government agencies at all levels, from federal to the local level. For example, key stakeholders include the Department of VA Office of the Inspector General, local law enforcement and specialized fraud divisions. However, law enforcement faces unique challenges in prosecuting cross-state or international scams, in which jurisdictional issues complicate prosecutions.

Technology is integral in tracking criminals and uncovering schemes. Unfortunately, many police departments don’t have dedicated cybercrime units because they lack financial resources; the fast-paced evolution of technology presents investigatory challenges.

While legislation specific to pension fraud has been introduced in Congress, and federal and state laws aimed at safeguarding older adults from financial abuse have been enacted, the complexity of financial schemes and lack of clear evidence can still impede convictions. However, notable cases of pension poaching have been successfully prosecuted. For example, in January 2025, Joseph Beach was sentenced to 41 months in federal prison for stealing $253,867 of his military vet father’s disability, retirement and Social Security benefits. Beach, who was the fiduciary to his father’s benefits, siphoned the funds while his father was received care from a veteran’s facility. 

Victims' rights in the criminal justice process

For many older victims of fraud, the trauma doesn’t end with the fraud itself. Secondary victimization, or revictimization, refers to the adverse social or societal response resulting from the initial victimization perceived by victims as an additional violation of their legitimate rights. Beyond the emotional and financial toll of the primary victimization, victims may experience secondary victimization through the criminal justice process, further exacerbating their psychological distress. For example, they may face victim blaming, which occurs when the person harmed is held responsible for the harm they experienced, shifting focus away from the perpetrator. In the case of elder fraud, a victim’s experiences might be dismissed or overlooked by criminal justice professionals because of their age or cognitive impairments. Other forms of secondary victimization may include inappropriate interactions (e.g., insensitive language used by criminal justice professionals, repeated exposure to perpetrator), denial of essential services (e.g., legal prosecution of the crime), lack of support, and feelings of confusion or powerlessness in relation to the criminal justice process. Criminal justice professionals could employ a trauma-informed approach when working with victims, which provides individualized support during investigations and can subvert revictimization.

Trauma and mental health impact

Retirees victimized by investment scams often experience severe psychological and emotional consequences. These emotions can be exacerbated by age-related vulnerabilities, such as declining cognitive function, memory loss and diminished financial literacy, which can lead to increased distress and self-blame after victimization.

Victims’ family members may respond with physical and psychological abuse, especially when they learn they might need to provide financial assistance to a defrauded family member. Isolation and fear are likely to heighten victims’ despair and may increase their suicide risk. Also, unlike younger victims, older adults often have fewer financial recovery options after fraud, leading to additional long-term stress, anxiety and depression.

Recommendations

Prevention and education 

To help prevent elder fraud, practitioners should focus on community outreach and education to raise awareness about pension poaching. Veterans need knowledge and tools to identify and avoid scams. Efforts should be multidisciplinary, involving several systems of care. 

 

Collaborations among law enforcement, educators, community-based advocacy and veteran organizations can help create effective educational resources that reach vulnerable populations. The following are examples of resources:

• Develop and promote targeted public awareness campaigns to educate older adults and veterans about fraud risks, including detailed information about how to identify fraudulent schemes and report them to the FTC, state attorneys general, VA or other authorities. Use a combination of print, digital and social media strategies. Distribute materials online and in libraries, grocery stores, physicians’ offices and banks.
• Advocate for and develop a dedicated fraud prevention program within the VA specifically focused on pension fraud to monitor and respond to emerging threats. Such a prevention program would require legislative support.
• Promote community partnerships to increase vigilance and provide local support systems for veterans, particularly in rural or underserved areas where people may be more isolated.
• Foster collaboration among government agencies, law enforcement, advocacy groups and veteran-serving organizations to share information about fraud attempts and bolster investigations.

Improving victim support services

Addressing financial fraud requires more than just prosecuting perpetrators; it involves understanding and addressing the financial and mental health rights and implications for victims, survivors and their families. Expanding access to legal and financial support services for veterans is essential. Strengthening partnerships with community organizations and improving reporting mechanisms will help ensure that victims feel safe and supported in coming forward.

The VA’s Benefits Delivery Protection and Remediation program can assist defrauded veterans. To learn more about the program or to report fraud, email the fraud team at bdpr.vbaco@va.gov. Victims can also report fraud to the VA Benefits Hotline (1-800-827-1000) to begin investigations for benefits’ restoration.

Veterans also may find help through victim support services, including legal aid and financial counseling. Some examples include:

• The National Center on Elder Abuse.
• FINRA Investor Educational Foundation.
• The National Resource Directory.
• Stateside Legal.
• U.S. Department of Justice Servicemembers and Veterans Initiative.
• U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, Office of General Counsel.
• Peer networks, such as AARP, can provide guidance and shared experiences, which can reduce victims’ isolation.

Given the unique challenges older victims face, it’s crucial that criminal justice professionals employ trauma-informed practices. Older victims often experience ageism, victim-blaming and cognitive impairments that make navigating the system a challenge. Trauma-informed approaches prioritize the mental well-being of fraud victims, allowing them to heal and rebuild their lives, rather than focusing solely on the resolution of the crime itself. This trauma-informed approach, combined with age-appropriate interview techniques, can help ensure that victims are treated with dignity and respect. An age-appropriate interview ensures that the interview environment is accessible for the victim, considering safety measures suitable for the victim’s degree of mobility, the victim’s communication style and ability to recall, cognitive decline and the establishment of interview guidelines.

Policy improvements

We see a clear need for stricter legislation targeting pension poaching. Increased funding for veteran services and fraud prevention programs are essential in preventing future abuses. Practitioners can create supportive environments for older victims of financial abuse, ensuring that they receive the care and protection they deserve, if they:

• Push for clearer reporting mechanisms for suspicious activities involving veterans' benefits and develop and enforce standardized guidelines for pensions.
• Promote tighter regulations for financial advisers who work with veterans to prevent exploitation.
• Advocate mandatory monitoring of professionals offering financial services to veterans, especially those managing benefits or advising on investments.

Recommendations for Certified Fraud Examiners

Certified Fraud Examiners (CFE) can play a crucial role in efforts to identify fraudulent investment schemes targeting older military veterans. Their expertise in the prevention and detection of financial fraud can strengthen interdisciplinary collaborations. CFEs can provide valuable skills in meetings with government officials to detect and dismantle pension-related fraud schemes before they reach massive financial consequences.

Here are further recommendations for CFEs:

• Stay informed on the latest research and seek training on pension poaching to recognize its red flags. Fraud examiners can start with these resources to develop their knowledge of pension poaching: AARP; the United States Postal Services’ Operation Protect Veterans program; the FDIC; the National Organization of Veterans’ Advocates, Inc.; and Pennsylvania’s Department of Military and Veterans Affairs’ initiative on pension poaching. 
• If you’re working on a case involving possible pension poaching, review accounts for red flags such as sudden or unexplained withdrawals, large transactions or involvement with high-risk investment opportunities.
• Partner closely with veteran advocacy groups and government agencies, supporting the detection, reporting and investigation of suspicious activities involving pension poaching.
• Implement artificial intelligence and data analytics techniques to help identify potential fraud risks and improve response times by detecting and analyzing transactional patterns and anomalies in large datasets.

Adopt a multidimensional approach

Academic research on older-adult victims has traditionally involved financial fraud committed by relatives rather than by strangers. Despite the significant financial, emotional and well-being effects of these scams, academic research on investment fraud targeting retirees remains limited and underexplored. Research on the rights and mental health implications for victims, many of whom endure lasting emotional and financial harm, is also lacking.

Contemporary research should focus on identifying vulnerable veteran groups, such as those with cognitive impairments and low financial literacy, to enable targeted interventions. Studies should also explore older adults' online activities that present risks and the ways perpetrators adapt their methods to target different demographic groups. We also need research on evaluations of existing fraud prevention programs.

CFEs and other professionals serving older adults must adopt a multidimensional approach to combat pension poaching and other targeted fraud schemes via integration of legislative advocacy, public education, practitioner training and targeted research. By focusing on prevention and victim education and support, they can mitigate risks and help protect veterans and their families from scams and financial abuse.

Michele P. Bratina, Ph.D., is a professor and practicum coordinator in the Department of Criminal Justice at West Chester University of Pennsylvania. Contact her at mbratina@wcupa.edu.

John Schwartz is founder, president and CEO of the Center for Combating Elder Financial Abuse (endefa.org), and a retired supervisory special FBI agent. Contact him at jschwartz@endefa.org.

Kate Kleinert is an elder-fraud advocate, an AARP Pennsylvania volunteer on the Consumer Issues Task Force and an AARP Fraud Watch Network Speaker. Contact her at kkleinert@msn.com.

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Collaborating with military officials and academics to help protect older vets from fraud

By John Schwartz

I founded the Center for Combating Elder Financial Abuse (endefa.org) in 2021 as a veteran-operated 501c3 nonprofit organization that provides education on how to protect the U.S.’s 60 million older adults from all forms of elder fraud. I’m the center’s president and chief executive officer. 

After graduating from West Point in 1986, I served in the U.S. Army as a commissioned officer until 1995. During my time in the Army, I graduated from the Ranger, Airborne and Air Assault courses. I then joined the FBI and served as a special agent from 1996 to 2021.

Our center focuses on military veteran pension poaching among other elder frauds. Older military veterans who receive pensions are attractive targets for criminals. I’ve identified two convictions within the past three years involving individuals who targeted elderly military veterans and their pensions through Ponzi investment schemes. The first is John J. Woods, the crooked Tennessee money manager in the opening case history. The second is Scott Kohn, who was sentenced to 10 years in prison in August 2022 for leading a seven-year nationwide Ponzi investment scheme that stole $300 million. According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), Kohn’s scheme “exploited military veterans in desperate financial straits and targeted elderly investors seeking a safe retirement investment.”

The DOJ accused Kohn and his co-conspirators of soliciting retirees — most were military veterans — who were experiencing financial distress. The co-conspirators offered an upfront lump-sum payment in exchange for a portion of their monthly pensions and disability payments. More than 13,000 veterans and 2,500 retirees were victims of this scheme. 

These two cases, occurring approximately 18 months apart, suggest a troubling trend of fraudulent investment advisers targeting military veterans and their pensions. More data is needed to determine the full scope of this issue, but these cases highlight the significant financial ruin caused to older military veterans nationwide.

To address this fraud, I’ve collaborated with various stakeholders. On July 10, 2023, Michele Bratina, Ph.D., and four of her criminal justice students, plus Kate Kleinert [one of the coauthors of the accompanying article] and I met with Brigadier General (PA) Maureen Weigl and her staff at the Pennsylvania Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (PA-DMVA) at Fort Indiantown Gap, Pennsylvania. Dr. Bratina’s students, who were participating in a summer practicum internship with the center presented the Woods case to Brigadier General Weigl and her team.

The meeting provided valuable insights for the DMVA team and served as a catalyst for collaboration. A student-led presentation culminating in policy recommendations, followed by a discussion involving advocacy, academic and practitioner perspectives, fostered a natural collaboration that bridged theory and practice. This multidisciplinary exchange offered meaningful context for several DMVA initiatives, such as the students’ suggestion to share literature on financial scams targeting older adults in local libraries. The discussion underscored the importance of diverse partnerships in protecting older veterans from fraudulent activities. Replicating similar collaborations in other states could help identify fraudulent schemes early and prevent losses in the hundreds of millions.

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‘Battle Buddy’ website could help protect elder vets

By Kate Kleinert

I’m an advocate for elder fraud victims and a volunteer with AARP. I’ve shared across the U.S. my personal experiences of being a victim of a romance scam.

I’m still haunted by the case of David McLellan, a Marine veteran, who was held captive at a motel by a fraudster, Perry Coniglio, for four years. Coniglio, who lived at the Orange County, New York, motel along with McLellan, posed as the Marine vet’s caretaker but withheld food from him and stole thousands of dollars of his monthly Social Security and pension benefits. Coniglio was arrested in 2016 when McLellan was 81 and had dementia. Coniglio was sentenced to time served and five years of probation in 2016. When Coniglio was arrested, McLellan received care from Adult Protective Services.

This case, along with many others, highlights the vulnerability of aging veterans and the urgent need for better systems to support them.

I’m proposing a simple peer-based solution: Let’s create a website where veterans can connect with “Battle Buddies” — other veterans who offer emotional support and check-in on one another. I’ve shared my idea with John Schwartz [one of the coauthors of the accompanying article]. John, also a veteran, said that a soldier needs a Battle Buddy during combat — a person you rely on to make sure you’re safe, and accounted and cared for. In the field, no soldier is ever left behind. But it seems that after transitioning from active duty to veteran status, many veterans are forgotten. The pain that David McLellan endured in the last years of his life can’t, and must not, be allowed to happen again.

Veterans would be able to sign in to the Battle Buddy website and either ask for a Battle Buddy or volunteer to be one. A veteran would be asked for their contact preference: email, text or phone call. Only that information of the veteran seeking a buddy would be available to the vet willing to be a buddy. Every state has a record of its veteran residents, and veterans who wish to participate in the Battle Buddy program would need to be on their state’s list to participate.

Battle Buddies wouldn’t necessarily need a picnic lunch every Sunday afternoon. They could simply text or call to ask how they’re doing. If a vet hasn’t heard from their buddy in a while, they could contact the website administrator who’ll have access to that buddy’s full information, including an emergency contact.

We don’t need government to convene a committee to study the issue for two years. Once the website is up, we can have meetings with leaders of each state’s department of veterans' affairs. States could take on the cost of constructing and maintaining a website and sending news about their program. We’d hold fundraisers if the states couldn’t absorb the costs.

We simply must not have any more forgotten, abused veterans like David McLellan.