By Casey Godwin, as published in Mid Rivers Newsmagazine .

A disturbing prank call has the Red Cross up in arms. A military spouse received a call that her husband had been hurt while serving in Iraq and had been evacuated to a hospital in Germany. The caller, who identified herself as a representative of the American Red Cross, claimed that medical treatment was pending until paperwork was completed. All she needed was his social security number and date of birth.

The spouse, who did not want to comment or be identified, realized quickly that she was being scammed.

The isolated incident was enough to swing the Red Cross into action.

"Our headquarters in Washington D.C. immediately made all the chapters aware of this incident so that we can work to make sure it doesn't happen again," said Stephen Hall of the American Red Cross St. Louis Area Chapter. "We want to get the word out that this has happened and to help people understand what the Red Cross actually does."

Hall said that only the Department of Defense notifies families of military casualties.

"The role of the Red Cross is communications and referral," Hall said. "The only time we would call is as a follow up to an emergency message the family has initiated."

If a family needed to get an emergency message, such as a family member's death or injury, to military personnel on duty, they would contact the Red Cross to send the message.

"We convey that message, and if necessary we make follow up calls," Hall said. "We never make cold calls."

Hall said the caller in this incident, who remains unknown, was attempting to collect personal information in order to commit identity theft. He said, should someone receive a call asking for specific information that they were not expecting, to never give that personal information.

"It's generally a good idea to never give out personal information over the phone," Hall said.

Impersonating a member of the Red Cross for the purpose of soliciting, collecting, or receiving money or material is a federal crime, punishable by up to five years in prison.

If a family feels they've received such a call, they should report it to their local Family Readiness Group or Military Personnel Flight.