Should service members be held accountable if their government identity is stolen?

2014-07-01T11:35:25-04:00

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?

Retired Air Force officer charged in identity theft case

A retired Air Force senior master sergeant was charged Monday with stealing credit cards from fellow service members at numerous San Diego-area military installations, often while they worked out, ...

Response by PO1 Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 1 at 2014 12:19 PM

2014-07-01T12:19:36-04:00

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.