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Dover Post: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, Attorney General visit Dover Air Force Base

Consumer fraud predators constantly roam about seeking whom they can victimize next, be they senior citizens, naïve consumers and even members of the mighty U.S. Military.

As such, Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden and U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau Assistant Director Holly Petraeus held a town hall meeting at Dover Air Force Base Friday to advise airmen of the consumer fraud that lurks for them. They sat down with commissioned and non-commissioned officers.

Those officers will relate what they learned to the men and women serving under them, Major Jason Wolff said.

Scam artists have actually increased their attempts to rip people off in the wake of the Great Recession, Biden said.

“When people are in tough shape and desperate, they are more susceptible to that deal that looks too good to be true,” he said. “These folks who prey on citizens don’t discriminate between civilians and people in the military.

“And, unfortunately, they sometimes target the military because they know that airmen returning from oversees and from war zones sometimes come back with cash in our pocket,” said Biden, who serves in the U.S. Army National Guard. “So, we’re an easy mark.”

Senior Master Sgt. Patrick Piazza started things off with a poignant question about the high interest loans given by some local car dealerships. One young man in his squadron had 26 percent interest on his car loan, Piazza said.

“He was actually making monthly payments on his down payment,” he said. “What really concerns me is the guy who called me to ask if I could help get this payment is a retired master sergeant. I feel like these guys know the position we’re in and taking advantage of our guys.”

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