Posted on Jul 1, 2014
Should service members be held accountable if their government identity is stolen?
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According to this article, service members had their government issues Credit cards stolen while doing things such as going to the gym. Should these members be held accountable for not securing their government issues property. There is the old Marine Corps adage which my my Senior Drill Instructor handed down to us which said "There would be no thieves in the world if you secured your gear." Meaning it is not the thieves fault for stealing, rather it is your fault for letting it be stolen. In the case of government credit cards, I see this as a situation where allowing it to be taken as well as information for it to be used, as dereliction. What are your thoughts?
Posted in these groups: 
Accountability
Fraud
Accountability Fraud
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 1
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While I would agree on the most part with you Major - I will say the skills of those responsible for taking credit card info are legendary and sometimes beyond belief. One of my friends had all of her credit card data stolen whle her cards were in her purse which was locked up in her locker. The thief used a high-tech scanner to read each card, record the data and pass it on. Total time elapsed - 28 seconds. How did the thief get caught? Yet another high tech system - video cameras used in the gym.
I've had my pockets picked in church, right in the middle of the church service - fortunately a retired policeman caught the thief in the act. Was that my fault? Perhaps - perhaps not.
As a FEMA "on call" employee I carry my Govt issued credit card with me at all times. I never know when I'll get the call - once while getting a tooth drilled (the resulting conversation with our travel service was probably humorous to the agent I'm sure) so I have to be ready to make reservations and TACAMO smoothly.
As for the military version of the govt credit card - I can't say I've ever felt it was a good deal to anyone but the government. As a second class I had to use the card for travel and ended up stuck with paying the entire $3100 bill out of my pay - despite the fact the Navy admitted that I had successfully and properly filled out all the necessary paperwork ON TIME. It seems there was a glitch some where in the system and until that glitch was fixed no one was authorized to re-imburse me. I'm not going to bore you with the 19 month saga - bottom line- I was forced to pay for uncle sam's trip. Uncle sam refused to aid me in any way - even though multiple levels of officers and offiices (up to and including Flag rank) admitted I had done nothing wrong and it was completely the Navy's fault.
Now, if some SM sells that credit card (we used to sell our ID's left and right back in the day) - then I have no problem dealing with the SM appropriately.
I've had my pockets picked in church, right in the middle of the church service - fortunately a retired policeman caught the thief in the act. Was that my fault? Perhaps - perhaps not.
As a FEMA "on call" employee I carry my Govt issued credit card with me at all times. I never know when I'll get the call - once while getting a tooth drilled (the resulting conversation with our travel service was probably humorous to the agent I'm sure) so I have to be ready to make reservations and TACAMO smoothly.
As for the military version of the govt credit card - I can't say I've ever felt it was a good deal to anyone but the government. As a second class I had to use the card for travel and ended up stuck with paying the entire $3100 bill out of my pay - despite the fact the Navy admitted that I had successfully and properly filled out all the necessary paperwork ON TIME. It seems there was a glitch some where in the system and until that glitch was fixed no one was authorized to re-imburse me. I'm not going to bore you with the 19 month saga - bottom line- I was forced to pay for uncle sam's trip. Uncle sam refused to aid me in any way - even though multiple levels of officers and offiices (up to and including Flag rank) admitted I had done nothing wrong and it was completely the Navy's fault.
Now, if some SM sells that credit card (we used to sell our ID's left and right back in the day) - then I have no problem dealing with the SM appropriately.
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PO1 (Join to see)
Cpl Ivan Hicks
Try this perspective: the wife, who has to be told she can't go grocery shopping to feed 2 teenagers, nor can she get new tires for the car for the entire month because there's no money in the account. When you go to Navy Relief - they reject you because the Command won't admit it's the Navy's fault you're in the situation your in.
Try this perspective: the wife, who has to be told she can't go grocery shopping to feed 2 teenagers, nor can she get new tires for the car for the entire month because there's no money in the account. When you go to Navy Relief - they reject you because the Command won't admit it's the Navy's fault you're in the situation your in.
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Cpl (Join to see)
PO1 (Join to see) I have been the PFC on wic with wife and child not able to afford food and rent. I understand that portion clearly. What I found interesting was this statement "As for the military version of the govt credit card - I can't say I've ever felt it was a good deal to anyone but the government."
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PO1 (Join to see)
There was a time, when I was on AD, that the government actually held the SM personally responsible for any and all charges on the card. The SM was held responsible for proving a charge was false (in the case of a fake charge) - not the government. Thus the SM had to spend his/her time and money (long distance phone calls - some overseas, statements from the businesses, etc.) to prove the fake charges were not the fault of the SM. When my situation came up - the Nav came right out and said - "yep, we screwed up, but you're still liable personally for any charges until we get everything fixed." My command actually started article 15 process on me until I paid the entire bill out of my pocket - despite statements from the processing center that the fault was NOT mine and that an investigation had been initiated by NCIS. My commands point of view was: You're personally responsible - if you fail to pay the charges and allow the account to go into default, we will bust you. Yes, we know it's not your fault, but you're still responsible for any and all charges until the investigation is complete - no matter how long that takes. So - the advantage is to the government - the account is current, there is no pressure on the command or the processing command to fix the issue and the individual is held personally responsible for conducting and paying the commands true bill.
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Cpl (Join to see)
This was my understanding during my time in. Granted, as Cpl, I did not handle the extensive TDY arrangements, which were usually handled by at SSgt. Still I wondered/wonder how these kinds of incidents would be handled. Thank you for your insight PO1 (Join to see)
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