Tomorrow is Veterans Day, and the Better Business Bureau warns that the annual holiday in honor of military veterans can also be a potential opening for possible scams targeting those who are serving or have served, especially elderly vets.

Service members and veterans, as well as all consumers, should never give identifying information (Social Security, bank account, military identification or credit card numbers) to anyone by phone or e-mail, and be wary of any solicitation that involves transferring money or purchasing something.

“Telephone solicitors will call and say they are with a group that is helping veterans, service members or their families,” says Art Taylor, president and CEO of the BBB Wise Giving Alliance. Before donating, you can check that the organization meets charity standards for free at www.BBB.org.

Scams to watch out for:

• Posing as the Veterans Administration and contacting vets to say they need to update their credit card, bank or other financial records with the VA.
  
• Charging veterans for services they could get for free or less expensively elsewhere, such as military records.
  
• Fraudulent investment schemes that convince veterans to transfer their assets into an irrevocable trust.
  
• Offering “instant approval” military loans (no credit check, all ranks approved) that can have high interest rates and hidden fees.
  
• Advertising housing online with military discounts and incentives, and then bilking service personnel out of the security deposit.
  
• Trying to sell things like security systems to spouses of deployed military personnel by saying the service member ordered it to protect his or her family.
  
• Selling stolen vehicles at low prices by claiming to be soldiers who need to sell fast because they’ve been deployed.
  
• Posing as government contractors recruiting veterans and then asking for a copy of the job applicants’ passport (which contains a lot of personal information).
  
• Posing on online dating services as a lonely service member in a remote part of Iraq or Afghanistan, and then asking for money to be wired to a third party for an emergency.

BBB Issues Warning About Veterans’ Day Scams [BBB]