The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Offers Guidance on How To Spot And Avoid Costly Camp Lejeune Justice Act Scams
No official correspondence should ask you to pay upfront money to file a Camp Lejeune Justice Act claim
Thursday, January 11, 2024 - More than 100,000 Camp Lejeune Justice Act claims have been filed in the year and one half since the water contamination act was passed by Congress and signed into law by President Biden. Most of the claims have been ignored by the government thus permitting the claimant to file a lawsuit in the Eastern District of North Carolina where only four judges are available to hear the cases. About 2000 cases have been filed to date with each judge receiving about 360 to 400 cases. Recent estimates suggest that the number of lawsuits filed could expand exponentially since the new Elective Payment Option fails miserably to include the majority of illnesses that claimants suffer from. The fast payment option only covers a handful of types of cancer and excludes illnesses and wrongful death that occur during pregnancy or early childhood. Thousand of women who served on the base, worked as a civilian, or otherwise spent at least 30 days at Camp Lejeune from 1953 to 1987 have given birth to stillborn babies and also babies with severe, dilapidating injuries. One famous case not covered by the elective payment option is that of a US marine whose six-year-old daughter died of childhood leukemia because her father drank water contaminated with carcinogenic, volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Lawsuits could take years to go to trial because of the backlog and legal experts think that many personal injury cases will have to be re-filed as wrongful death claims. To compound the delays, the Department of Justice and the US Navy have uncovered thousands of cases of fraudulent claims that have been made by scammers looking to steal a claimant's identity and receive lump-sum benefits. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) offers advice on how to spot a scammer email and what to do next.
Scammers use official-looking and sounding emails and written correspondence to conduct their nefarious operations. Scammers may ask you to provide personal data so that they can expedite your claims and payout to you immediately. Scammers may also be looking to receive an upfront payment from you and this is a signal that something is amiss. The FTC advises, " The Department of Justice and the Navy will never ask you to pay to file a disability claim. Want to know who will? Scammers. Keep scammers away from your personal information -- and your money -- while you're applying for relief." " Scammers try to sound real with official-sounding names and titles. Don't share any information with them. Instead, get the person's name and position, then call the Camp Lejeune Claims Unit (CLCU) at (757) 241-6020 to verify." It is also a good idea to forward all Camp Lejeune Justice Act claim-related emails to your Camp Lejeune water attorney. In addition, " Only trust CLClaims@us.navy.mil -- that's the Navy's official email address for the CLCU. Got a message from a different email address? It's a scam. Forward it to the CLCU," the FTC writes.
OnderLaw, LLC and The Overholt Law Firm, PC -