The Army's Criminal Investigation Command has issued a warning about a new website scam that's attempting to steal soldiers' official emails and passwords.

The site located at http://www.usmilitarybenifit.org -- is not an official website ... and is neither affiliated with nor endorsed in any way by the United States Army," Pentagon officials said in a recent press release.

The false website should not be confused with the Army's official website called "MyArmyBenefits" at http://myarmybenefits.us.army.mil, operated by the service's Retirement Services Office.

The purpose of the fraudulent site is to collect soldiers' Army Knowledge Online, or AKO, email accounts and passwords, officials said. Since the warning was issued, the URL, http://www.usmilitarybenifit.org, has been disabled as of Sunday.

It also makes the false claim that the U.S. military has granted access to unclaimed and accumulated benefits for active duty soldiers, and that benefits not claimed within the stipulated period will be available for claims after 60 months.

CID officials strongly recommend that soldiers, Army civilians, retirees and family members avoid the website and ignore any information or claims posted on it. They also recommend deleting suspicious or unsolicited emails immediately, without response.

Most online scam attempts are easily recognizable, officials said, because they usually involve unsolicited emails or text messages. Hoax websites often contain misspelled words and punctuation and grammatical errors, and often ask for private information such as an email address and password, officials said.

CID officials recommend that Army personnel and family members avoid the website and do not respond to any emails from the website. Anyone who has had contact with the website should stop immediately, officials maintain.

Soldiers should contact their local information assurance office if they accessed the website from a government computer or system, officials said.