Authorities are warning western Iowans about a possible scam involving donations for care packages said to be destined for soldiers serving overseas. Pottawattamie County Sheriff’s Department spokesman Sergeant Dwayne Ritchie says the incidents were reported last week in Underwood, northeast of Council Bluffs.
Ritchie says two men were going door-to-door, showing people military I-Ds and asking residents to provide care packages or cash for service members in Iraq and elsewhere in the world. Ritchie says the military does conduct such fundraisers and other such events to support the troops, but not in the way the men in question were doing it.
The military’s Office of Special Investigations says care package campaigns are done, but service members are not allowed to solicit care packages or money in that way, door-to-door. He says the men went to City Hall in Underwood to inquire about a permit to solicit door-to-door, but didn’t get the required permit.
Ritchie says, “Once the city clerk told them they would have to have a permit to do this, they left town.” If you suspect members of the military, or those claiming to be servicemen, are conducting unauthorized solicitations, contact your local law enforcement agency.
By Ric Hanson, KJAN, Atlantic