An email scammer purporting to be an Army contractor in Iraq has been sending out a message promising millions for readers’ help, in what the military headquarters in Doral says is the first such online deception to come from a southcom.mil address.
The email says it comes from a writer named “Freeman Veilleux,” an Army contractor who has stayed behind in Iraq to help rebuild the country. His email address appears to indicate that he is assigned to the U.S. Southern Command's special operations division, SOCSOUTH.
Veilleux describes finding money at a terrorist hideout – money he says was used to fund efforts to kill Americans.
"On discovery of this money, I and the soldiers for hours counted bundles of the currency which amounted to $23.5 million,” he writes.
He then asks for help, saying, “I assure you and promise to give you 25 percent of this fund before sharing with the other 2 soldiers when we leave this place."
But it is all a fake, says the real U.S. Southern Command in Doral.
“It was the first time we saw it from a southcom.mil address, so we were a little surprised,” said Lt. Col. Aaron Andrews of U.S. Southern Command. “We’ve seen that kind of email floating around for a couple of years, but not from a .mil domain.”
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He said that “no one with a .mil email address should ever try to solicit any money or anything from the general population.”
To prevent the deceptive messages from being sent out, Andrews explained, “We added filters to the email so that anybody trying to send email out or in with that kind of subject, that kind of alias, was automatically blocked.”
If you see an email like the one described in this story, the military wants to hear from you. Click on this link to get in touch with officials from Southern Command.
