Identity theft more common among military families

One of the most financially damaging crimes a person can be a victim of is identity theft, and a recent report found that military families are at a greater risk.

When deployed or heading to a new assignment, military personnel are often prime targets for identity theft, according to Scambook, which is why short term lenders need to be one of the first lines of defense against this type of crime to ensure thieves don't take out loans under false names. For this reason, these financial institutions need to have adequate ID verification procedures.

To help these people, Military Consumer Protection Day is on July 17, when military members can learn about defenses against fraud and money mismanagement.

When a thief gets ahold of personal information, they are able to run up the credit lines on any new accounts opened. Barry Paperno, community manager for Credit.com, told MSN Money this could bring down a score by as much as 45 points.

In instances where military members see their scores fall as a result of identity theft, short term lending demand could rise as these financial institutions use alternative credit solutions to approve loans.