Holly Petraeus to take on online loan scammers - Army News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Army Times

Holly Petraeus to take on online loan scammers

The proliferation of Internet scams and bad loans aimed at the military community will be among the first targets of Holly Petraeus, who has just been appointed to lead the office of service member affairs for the new Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

It’s often difficult to find out who is actually lending troops money in these bad-deal loans, so that action against the lenders can be enforced, Petraeus said in a press call shortly after her appointment was announced by Elizabeth Warren, assistant to the president and special advisor to the Secretary of the Treasury for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Until recently, Petraeus has been director of the Better Business Bureau’s Military Line, a partnership between the BBB and the Defense Department that provides consumer education and advocacy for service members and their families. She worked with the BBB for six years.

“The BBB is a reporting agency. This agency is an enforcement agency. They have the power to make changes. That’s why I was excited to take this position,” Petraeus said.

Petraeus’ husband, Gen. David Petraeus, is commander of U.S.and NATO forces in Afghanistan. In addition, her son, brother, father, grandfather and great-grandfather all served in the military.

Warren said Petraeus will help her set up a framework for hearing about military issues, talking with military personnel and those who work with them. Petraeus said she would be open to having service members and family members contact the office directly. She will work with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to enforce action against those who have broken the law.

Petraeus and Warren will visit bases and talk with military personnel, with the first visit scheduled for Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, on Jan. 18.

Warren said Holly Petraeus came to visit her shortly after Warren took the job at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to express her concerns about predatory practices targeted at the military. “Within two minutes, she was learning forward … telling me, ‘These are the things you could do,’ ” Warren said. “She knocked my socks off. This is the kind of leadership we need.”

Petraeus said Internet scams were among the issues she mentioned to Warren at that meeting. She also expressed concern about the businesses lined up to take advantage of troops “when they come out of the door of basic training.”

In a White House blog entry posted Thursday, Warren wrote that the office of service member affairs will work with the Defense Department to help ensure that:

• Military families get the education they need to make the best financial decisions.

• Complaints and questions from military families are monitored and responded to.

• Federal and state agencies coordinate their activities to improve consumer protection for military families.