This article by Zamone Perez originally appeared on Military Times, the nation's largest independent newsroom dedicated to covering the military and veteran community.

The Justice Department and Navy on Monday issued a fraud alert for veterans and service members filing claims for injuries sustained due to contaminated water at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, North Carolina.

The Navy and DOJ cited reports of “unscrupulous people and companies” attempting to acquire the personal information of filers under the Camp Lejeune Justice Act as the cause of the alert. Fraudulent email and telephone solicitations were the most common method in which filers were targeted, according to the alert.

The Camp Lejeune Justice Act is a provision within the Honoring our Promise to Address Comprehensive Toxics Act — better known as the PACT Act — that was signed into law in 2022 by President Joe Biden. The provision allows service members and veterans to file a claim with the Navy for contaminated water-related injuries sustained during periods of over 30 days at Camp Lejeune between Aug. 1, 1953, and Dec. 31, 1987.

[PACT ACT RESOURCES: VA.gov/PACT]

Drinking water contamination at the installation may have affected as many as a million individuals over that timeframe. At least 93,000 claims seeking compensation for a range of injuries have been filed with the Navy, and more than 1,000 federal lawsuits have been filed against the Navy as of September 2023.

The service offered the following advise in the alert:

• The Justice Department and the Navy will never request money or payment from a filer
• If represented by an attorney, direct all inquiries to them for verification
• Authorized emails from the Navy will be sent from CLClaims@us.navy.mil. A filer can forward any email message to that address to verify authenticity
• If a filer receives a phone call claiming to be from the CLCU or offering assistance with a claim, ask for the person’s name and position, then call the CLCU at (757) 241-6020 to verify
• If represented by an attorney, the Justice Department and Navy will not contact a filer directly and will only contact them through the filer’s attorney

[FROM MOAA: Camp Lejeune Lawsuits Becoming Fraud Magnets: Here’s How to Stay Aware]

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