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Show Hilltop &(fs fo) August 14, 1997 DOD n standardizes looks too good to be true, it probably is If it by Special Agent Kathryn Fenwick Air Force Office of Special Investigations in-serv- ice tuition aid service members will receive equal tuition assistance under new policy letter slated to go into effect October 1998 4 by Paul Stone The Air Force Office of Special Investigations wants to warn all Hill AFB employees of the Nigerian Advance Fee Fraud scam. At least four Hill AFB employees have already been contacted. Many have responded to the Advance Fee Fraud letter. These individu- als soon find out the proposal was to good to be true when, instead of equal millions of dollars, for his or her help. Names and addresses of potential victims are obtained through trade journals, business directories, magazine and newspaper advertisements, chambers of commerce and the Internet. However, in the case of Hill AFB, it is believed the names of victims were obtained from a civilian and military base alpha roster. Due to Privacy Act Information contained in alpha rosters, all outdated ros- AIR FORCE ters should be shredded. Unit security managers oinfxi UIMJ receiving a large deposit, their entire bank account is cleaned out. The letters come via personal or office mail. The envelope may be addressed to an individual or his or her company, postmarked from Lagos, Nigeria. Inside, on official looking sta- ' mid-1980- N tionery, is an unsolicited American Forces Press Service "confidential business All service memWASHINGTON (AFNS) bers will be entitled to equal, uniform tuition assistance benefits under a new Department of Defense policy. The policy, approved in late May, is slated to go into effect in October 1998. Once implemented, all services will pay 75 percent of the cost of tuition for college and university courses up to a maximum of $187.50 per semester hour. off-dut- y Implementation was delayed to give the services time to budget for the mandated funding levels. The policy, established by Fred Pang, assistant secretary of defense for force management, also includes a $3,500 per year tuition assistance cap per service member. Costs for high school equivalency programs will continue to be fully funded. Each service currently uses its own formula for providing tuition assistance, according to Otto J. Thomas, DOD's chief of continuing education. Besides deciding how much they pay, e the services establish their own limits and overseas funding rates, and per-yehe said. Installation commanders in some cases can redirect tuition assistance funds to other local programs. Thomas said the differences between services' benefits could vary by up to $300 per course. "If four service members from the different branches were sitting in the same college classroom, it's very likely they all would have paid a different amount out of their pockets under the current system," Thomas said. "This has created problems as the services have become even collocatmore joint in their missions Metropolitan Police proposal" from someone claiming to be an Company Fraud Department in London, some 3,000 AFF letters are "official" from a Nigerian government ministry, an existing Nigerian company, or a Nigerian government contractor. This "proposal" states the individual has been mailed or faxed worldwide every week, primarily from Nigeria. The United States and Great Britain are the recipients of more than 50 percent of this mate- personally recommended by an international busi- rial. ness agency to receive this generous offer y 2. per-cours- Service members began comparing notes and voiced concerns about the unequal funding, Thomas said. The discrepancies came to the forefront during several studies in the past few years, including a 1994 study by the Defense Science Board Task Force on Quality of Life. The study, as well as congressional interest in the issue, spurred the DOD effort to the current policy change. Thomas said not everyone will gain under the Air Force tuition benefits gennew policy more liberal than other serbeen have erally vices, so the uniform payment policy may raise some airmen's expenses slightly. He emphasized a great deal of research went into reaching agreement on the new policy and said he believes most courses service members take will fall within the funding limits. About 300,000 service members take advantage of courses each year. post-seconda- ry Anyone who has- recently received a letbecause of the individ like the one ter ual's trustworthiness. described, please conThe official requests Ext.7-185There is AFOSI Detachment 113, tact so the information Nigeriaccount personal bank ans can transfer a large sum of money into the United an international task force working on stopping this on peoStates, using the person's account. The solicitors Nigerian crime scam. The task force relies Rememhave who to been forward come targeted. of the scam may offer the person a percentage of ple the money transferred, which could sometimes ber, if it looks too good to be true, it probably is. ar ing." should brief this information to all their personnel. AFF letters first surs faced in the around the time of the collapse of world oil prices, which is Nigeria's main source of foreign currency. Some Nigerians turned to crime in order to survive. According to the lire!! virus hoaxes threatThere are now two Force Air computers. The subjects of the ening E-m- are: "Returned or Unable to Deliver" and "Join the Crew." These two viruses have been confirmed by Air Force Computer Emergency Response Team and the Automated Systems Security Incident Support Team. Both organizations have given permission to use IBM's hoaxes list on their world wide web sites. This list can be used to validate Here is the site address: http:www.av.ibm.comBreakingNewsHypeAl- ert. IBM has a page location which also tells how to judge if a notice is a valid virus or a hoax: http: hoaxes. www.av.ibm.comInsideThe LabBookshelfWhitePa-persWellsHOWTOSPOThowtospot.ht- For more information call MSgt. Harold J. Grimes, Information and Virus Protection manager. Headquarters Air Force Materiel Command, DSN or commercial, 986-084- 9 787-733- 3. |