Financial predators target armed-forces families.(Up front: news / trends / advice)

U.S. troops are not only under attack in Iraq and Afghanistan; they're being ambushed at home by predatory lenders in communities near army, air force, and naval bases, according to a recent study

"There's an interesting divergence between the glowing pro-military rhetoric we hear about service to our country and the way our military men and women are being treated at home by these abusing businesses," says Steve Tripoli, co-author of the National Consumer Law Center report on businesses that victimize members of the armed forces and veterans.

Military men and women are plagued by fast-cash lenders who advance small sums until payday and levy exorbitant fees and interest rates as high as 900 percent per year; used-car dealers who sell and finance overpriced junkers; and "title pawn" lenders who use a borrower's car title as collateral for high priced short-term loans. Some lenders require borrowers to postdate their checks, and if a check bounces, a lender may keep redepositing it electronically, piling on insufficient-funds fees, which could boost the cost of a loan by hundreds of dollars, says Capt. Dave Faraldo, director of the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society serving the Naval Air Station in Jacksonville, Fla.

Yet another scam lures former military people into selling their veteran's benefits, One vet received $80,000 in exchange for 10 years of his benefits, worth $300,000, according to the law center study An NCLC analysis requested by Congress concluded ...