Soldier In Iraq

The Better Business Bureau is warning people not to fall for an Internet scam that uses the name of fallen U.S. Army Spc. Byron Fouty.

Tim Burns, spokesman for the Southfield-based Better Business Bureau Serving Eastern Michigan, said his office has received calls about the scam, in which someone claiming to be Fouty’s father, Mick, is allegedly selling his son’s BMW M6 with a $80,000 Kelly Blue Book value for $2,800. But the slain soldier never owned a car, according to his stepfather, Gordon Dibler.

The bureau has received calls about similar used car appearing periodically on www.craigslist.org, Burns said. The website features free classified advertisements and community forums.

The advertisements ask buyers to wire money to a fictional escrow company, Burns said, and list a fictional delivery service.

In the Fouty advertisement, someone claiming to by Fouty’s father Mick writes: “this car will be my gift, my gift in the memory of my son….money are not a problem, all i want is to find the right person. that person who’ll love and take care of this car in the same way he did…”

Fouty, who would have turned 20 in April, disappeared May 12, 2007, when he and two other soldiers were captured after an Al Qaeda ambush outside of Baghdad. The skeletal remains of Fouty and Sgt. Alex Jimenez, 25, of Lawrence, Mass., were found July 9 in the Iraqi village of Jurf as Sakhr. The body of the third captured soldier, Pfc. Joseph Anzack Jr., 20, of Torrance, Calif., was found days after the attack in the Euphrates River.

Dibler, of Oxford Township, said the family became aware of the scam this week.

“It’s very sick,” he said of the scam. “It’s sad.”

To avoid fraud, Burns advises potential customers to check out escrow companies at www.bbb.org and then contact the escrow company independently because some scammers are stealing the identities of legitimate companies. Also, be wary of wire transfers: Legitimate escrow companies don’t ask for them.

Dibler said family members are hoping whoever is responsible for the scam is caught and punished. The family will grieve for Byron at a private funeral will be July 25 in Texas, where is mother lives. He will then be buried at the Ft. Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio.

freep.com