New Advertisements Claim to Be Deploying from Decatur Unit
SPRINGFIELD, IL (09/16/2010)(readMedia)-- For more than a year there have been multiple advertisements posted on Craigslist from a person claiming to be with the Illinois Army National Guard's 139th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment (MPAD) based in Springfield. Now the scam artists are using a different unit to perpetuate their crime, the 766th Engineer Battalion based in Decatur.
The false advertisements are still making the same claim with the 766th as they did with the 139th MPAD, stating the Soldier will deploy to Iraq with the Decatur-based unit. The recent advertisements that have surfaced with the 766th are trucks for sale, but the advertisements for the 139th MPAD had various names and had items for sale ranging from a laptop computer to a boat. This person impersonating an Illinois Soldier attempts to lure the potential buyer to use Google Checkout, a third-party Web site, to transfer funds. All of these advertisements are a scam.
"Law enforcement agencies have been actively investigating these crimes for months now," said Maj. Brad Leighton, Illinois National Guard Public Affairs Director. "If you are suspicious of an advertisement you should take all precautions before sending any funds."
From the e-mail traffic the Illinois National Guard has seen, the person creates various ploys to get the potential buyer to send money. The con artist claims to be a deploying Illinois Army National Guard Soldier has defrauded numerous people out of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of dollars.
If you encounter one of these ads, contact the FBI's Crime Complaint Center on their Web site, https://www.ic3.gov/default.aspx.
For questions please contact the Public Affairs office at ngilstaffpao@ng.army.mil or 217-761-3569.
