More "Help" for Veterans

Well I read all the comments and I was ready to cancel my membership. I contacted The VABA directly via chat. After talking to their customer service agent on chat he explained that the site is used as a directory for veterans to review businesses for the individual needs of the veteran. It makes it easy to see which businesses support veterans and the fact that we are willing to help them. It's another way of getting our business name to the veterans so if they decide to use our services they would call us directly. It's up to us to ask new leads how they received our number and contact information. I don't feel it's a scam, it is difficult sifting through all the information out there, but if you contact them directly they will help you.

I just got a call from them. I didn't buy. Looking them up, I found these scam reports. Their web site has no clearly visible contact info. In their Terms and Conditions I find they are a web site maintained by Zbs Services Inc. with a mailing address of 43422 W Oaks Drive, Novi, Michigan 48377 -- which is a UPS store. Read the terms and conditions -- very illuminating! No sale.

Thanks so much for this article, John!
Today, I received the call whilst looking online for new dental & vision coverage as Tricare (our military benefit) will no longer be covering these areas. Ironic, but I'm no sissy & am very grateful for what we do have!
I asked the caller if this was a government-run service, and he said no but couldn't tell me who was the 'association'. Then, I asked if it was a non-profit, and he said yes but never used the IRS code to confirm Overall, he was pretty vague, but he kept saying "when these vets come home they have nothing". Default to demagoguery is not a strategic move when dealing with the wife of a veteran of 25 years who is somewhat familiar with resources out there for our veterans, our soldiers, and their families. I passed on this 'opportunity'.

I received a call from thevaba, and I asked the agent, Tyrone, to give me a day to research the company and see if it would be something I'd be interested in. After reading this blog, I decided that I could put my $50 to better use. When Tyrone called me the next day, I told him that I wouldn't be interested in signing up with thevaba.com. His response to me was to simply hang up on me. Glad I said no.

Just got the call. I'm a Realtor, and at first I was really excited that for so little money I would be able to help veterans find m, so I could help them. But of course, like others on here, I did my research and won't be advertising with them. I'm curious as to their reaction when they call me back after the holidays to try and sign me up.

Just got the email, and as a Realtor and a Veteran I am extra cautious on how I treat my fellow military brothers and sisters. Thanks for the Post

They called me also, and I was surprised to see who had already signed up...... ALL NON-VETERANS! As a realtor I was interested, but looking deeper into it, several of those listed did not even have representation in the local MLS. How were they going to represent Vets in this area?

They have contacted me as a work from home job. Is it a scam?

Thanks! I just got a call myself and really appreciate this!

Yes I got the call last week and this week, I thought it was strange their number came up with an 803 area code but they left a 202 area code and there is no address on their website! Run people and spread the word; I'm so sick of people playing on us veterans. Please spread the word about this scam!

I will be posted this scam copy on my facebook and other social media.

I got the call this morning. This thread popped up first when I did the google. Thanks for your well thought out argument against falling for this. I couldn't even get them with key words like benefits for veterans etc. I doubt they get 10 eyeballs a month.

OK, I'll jump on too. I'm a realtor and army vet in Atlanta. Got the call this afternoon. Luckily it was while I was at a lunch appt so I could use that as the excuse to not have time to talk. But I asked her to put down the script and in 25 words or less tell me what she was offering and to email me the info so I could check it out later. I would love to work with more vets but so many of the organizations that contact us, even if well intentioned, have almost zero chance of a real lead contacting you.

A disabled vet with 26 years of service myself, I'm always suspicious of these companies. Too many entities invoke the word "Vet" to GET business, NOT help vets. I just got the call and asked the agent "I'm not familiar with your association, is it a Not-for-profit organization?" ... "no" ... "can you tell me how much profit the association made last year?" ... "no". Well, it sounds more like the association's goal is to make a profit than to serve Vets. I opted OUT.

I just got called from a dude named Mike. Like several others I was ready to sign up, but I did a quick search to see if it was a scam and found this post. What turned me off was 2 things..... number 1, it's way too many people listed in the directory, so I looked at it like there's no way I'm going to get leads off of this thing. That alone makes it a waste of money. But secondly, it's a private company. It's not government affiliated. If a veteran is looking for a veteran benefits, he's not going to go to some private website. He's going to go to a .gov website. So the guy named Mike directed me all the way to the payment page. So I told him I'm on my way to lunch, and got off the phone. If they really want to help veterans, they need to get an endorsement from the VA. And secondly, they need to vet the people their signing up. There's no way, I'm going to add myself to a list of 100 other agents. This seems more like a money grab than a sincere attempt to add value to people's lives.

So glad I found this thread. Had a cold caller phone me in Virginia Beach, which is a city part of the Hampton Roads metropolitan area - the largest Navy concentration in the world. I also thought it too good to be true. I told the gentleman on the phone that before I spend $50, I would like to verify. His phone demeanor seemed nonchalant, so I was skeptical. Thanks!

BEWARE!!! "The VABA" or The Veterans Advocacy And Benefits Association charged my credit card $200, even though I NEVER PROVIDED THEM WITH MY CREDIT CARD INFORMATION! I had just received a new credit card about 2 months ago, and they charged that card. I hadn't talked with them, much less given them the information for this new card. How did they get the information to be able to charge? I reported this to my credit card company as fraud. Plus they emailed to a non-business email account and I don't know how they would have gotten that email address. SOOOOO SUSPICIOUS!!!

Yes I too got a call two days ago from "Mike" with a 202 area code (Wash DC). He later acknowledged he was actually based in Ohio but calls were routed through the 202 area code.
His message went to my voice mail but I called him back within the hour. I got the same pitch as others described above. He took a few minutes to show me the website and he said I could get 1 city for $100 or 3 cities for $200 ( i guess they raised their prices).
As with the other comments there was no attempt to qualify me or my firm, nor questions about the level of experience we had dealing with finding homes for veterans. If I paid the money I'd get as many cities as I wanted. (I'm in Florida)
Today I got another call from "Mike" placed to a second office number I use exclusively for my commercial clients (real estate). When I answered the call it was the same voice of Mike, but it wasn't the live Mike, it was a prerecorded message identical to the call that went in the voicemail on my other number a few days earlier. Clearly these robo-calls are going out to any professionals they can find who will pay the fee.
We all want to help veterans where we can, but as John said above make a donation to a legitimate organization that will be certain to go to helping a veteran.
I couldn't agree more with the disgust that some people are playing off the "help the poor vetrans" theme for their own enrichment. So glad I found these posts!!!

I got the call, and was interested as an advertiser. They couldn't tell me any important metrics about how many users click on lenders websites or contact info, and how often. They said they don't have those numbers. Bologna! With no ability to tell if there is a return on my investment, I wasn't interested. That's before I even examine there legitimacy as a true veteran's advocate!