Instead of working for a living, a few women took advantage of a different wartime opportunity. They defrauded the government by collecting multiple allotment checks (a monthly stipend that the government sent to servicemen's families while the men were overseas). To do this they had to marry multiple servicemen. Allotment Annies hung around military bases. When the opportunity presented itself, an Annie romanced and married an unsuspecting serviceman. She then tearfully saw her soldier off as he headed overseas. As she began to collect his $50 monthly allotment check, she was already waiting to trap the next soldier. Some Annies collected six or seven checks per month, although authorities did eventually catch up with them.