Caller poses as your commanding officer, DFAS, or Army CID to demand an immediate wire transfer
Scammers call servicemembers impersonating commanding officers, DFAS, or Army CID. They fabricate a pay deposit error or open warrant and demand immediate wire transfers, gift cards, or cryptocurrency. The median loss is $1,100; investment fraud variants reach $10,000.
Also known as: DFAS scam, Army CID impersonation, commanding officer phone scam, military pay deposit error scam, fake DFAS call
Already happened to you? Do this in the next few minutes
- 1 Call your bank or card's fraud line right now. Use the number on the back of your card — not any number from the message or caller. Ask them to stop or reverse the payment and freeze the account.
- 2 If you paid by gift card, wire, or an app (Zelle, Venmo, Cash App): contact that company immediately and report it as fraud. Acting fast sometimes recovers the money.
- 3 Report to the FBI at ic3.gov and the FTC at reportfraud.ftc.gov. The sooner, the better.
What to do right now
- 1 Hang up immediately — do not send any money
- 2 Verify directly by contacting your unit through official channels (DSN line or base directory) — never call back the number that contacted you
- 3 Check your myPay account at mypay.dfas.mil yourself to confirm your actual pay status
- 4 Report the call to your installation's legal assistance office, Inspector General, or Military One Source (1-800-342-9647)
- 5 Report to the FTC at https://reportfraud.ftc.gov and the FBI's IC3 at https://www.ic3.gov.
Red flags
- ⚠ The caller claims to be your commanding officer, an Army CID agent, or a DFAS representative contacting you by personal cell phone — real military chains of command use official channels for financial matters, not unsolicited calls
- ⚠ You are told a payroll deposit error requires you to wire money back immediately — DFAS never calls servicemembers to demand repayment; real pay discrepancies are resolved through myPay and the chain of command
- ⚠ The caller creates extreme urgency — 'this must be handled today or you will face disciplinary action' — real pay issues do not threaten immediate punishment
- ⚠ You are asked to pay with wire transfer, gift cards, or cryptocurrency — these are scam payment methods; no military agency accepts them
- ⚠ The caller already knows your name, rank, and unit — scammers buy or scrape this from public rosters, social media profiles, and data breaches to seem authentic
Sources
- FTC — Military Consumer Month 2026: 53,466 imposter scam reports, $249M in losses (Jul 2026)
- MilitaryConsumer.gov — Servicemembers: DFAS is not calling you about your pay
- Wisconsin DATCP — What to know about scams targeting military consumers (Jul 2026)
- FTC — Banking Scams Targeting Military Members (FTC Commissioner webinar)