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Collecting bottle caps?

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Ciara Wymbs
  • 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
AL UDEID AIR BASE, QATAR --  Did you or someone you know begin collecting bottle caps for a good cause earlier this month? The program has been discovered to be a hoax. This identical deceit happened at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan four years ago.

For many, the thought behind the cause was simple; collect bottle caps to be used in creating prosthetic limbs.

Seems pretty reasonable, right?

Wrong.

U.S. Air Force Capt. Lauren Tschampl, 379th Air Expeditionary Wing chief of general law, got to the bottom of the seemingly, well thought out cause.

"Once we started asking the 'who, what, where, why' questions, the answers led to a dead-end," said Tschampl. "They [the answers] actually led to an alley downtown with trash bags overflowing with bottle caps."

The caveat from this kind of scam is to be more aware, and look deeper into something before investing your valuable time.

"Individuals, private organizations, and unofficial activities should be scrupulous of the activities in which they partake," said Tschampl. "Many were probably disappointed that their well-intended efforts were not actually in furtherance of a charitable cause."

We can all look at this as a lesson learned.

This hoax can be viewed as a lesson learned to heighten our situational awareness, said Tschampl.