Michael Haring recalls losing control when a woman honked her horn as his 6-year-old daughter walked slowly in front of her car in a grocery store parking lot.

"She was yelling and gesturing," Haring said. "I dropped my bags down, and I went straight into Baghdad mode."

He kicked her car, denting its fender. He was arrested and charged with criminal mischief and disorderly conduct, he said, and he was sentenced to supervised probation.

The 42-year-old Army veteran blames the outburst a decade ago near Denver on post-traumatic stress disorder that resulted from the year he spent in Iraq searching for roadside bombs.

Michael Haring, an Army veteran, shows photographs of when he served in Iraq inside his townhouse in Longmont, Colorado. JOSH MORGAN/Staff

As a veteran with a disability, Haring represents the type of person who is an easy target of a financial scam, according to an October report from the U.S. Government Accountability Office.

Haring receives disability payments because of his PTSD diagnosis. He became one of thousands across the nation who traded their military benefits for lump-sum cash.

What he didn't know is that he was falling prey to a scam that judges have ruled violates state and federal laws.

The INDEBTED investigation: Veterans suffered, investors lost millions in nationwide schemes

Veterans with disabilities who receive benefits are singled out in scams, the GAO report said. This population will have a lifetime income stream with disability benefits, and they sometimes have conditions that impair their ability to manage finances.

Indebted: Financial schemes targeted veterans while the businesses made millions Financial schemes have targeted veterans since before the internet in at least 33 states, but court cases in Greenville, SC, could mark a new era. Josh Morgan, Greenville News

Veterans who sold their military benefits naively believed the transactions would help them achieve financial stability. In Haring's case, he was trying to recover from a bitter and costly divorce.

But Haring and many other veterans wound up even deeper in debt because of high fees and exorbitant interest rates that fueled the profits for the companies that arranged the illegal deals. Investors supplied veterans with cash advances. In some cases, including Haring's, the investors were also veterans.

Veterans Affairs should do more to stop exploitation: GAO report

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs has a number of programs aimed at curbing financial exploitation. Veterans can contact call centers to report scams. Attorneys are available to assist veterans in filing claims for benefits. Another program connects veterans to an individual or organization that will help them manage their benefits.

U.S. Government Accountability Office Report The U.S. Government Accountability Office issued a report in October detailing steps that the Department of Veterans Affairs could take to better protect veterans from financial exploitation. View documents

Still, the VA, the agency charged with caring for those who serve, is not doing enough, the GAO report said. The report specifically cited scams in which veterans are urged to sell military benefits for cash.

"VA does not centrally collect and analyze information, such as complaints made against companies, that could show the prevalence of these scams, help VA target outreach to veterans, and help law enforcement go after scammers," the report says.

Other specific recommendations:

VA documents, including benefit applications, should include more warnings about the risks of financial exploitation.

The agency should look into the costs and benefits of additional steps to verify that direct deposit information for veterans receiving benefits is correct and appropriate.

Help support quality local journalism like this. Subscribe! Get news and insights sent to your inbox. Sign up for email newsletters. Sign up

When contacted by The Greenville News, a VA spokesperson would not talk in detail about how her agency protects veterans. She said the agency is responding to the report's recommendations.

"What veterans do with their disability benefits they receive from VA is typically outside of VA’s control, but the department works to educate VA benefits recipients about their risk to fraud," Susan Carter, director of the VA's office of media relations, wrote in an email.

Better Business Bureau says veterans are susceptible to being targeted

Veterans also are susceptible to unscrupulous car dealers, online retailers, collection agencies and even furniture stores, according to another recent report.

The report issued by the Better Business Bureau looked at more than 28,000 business complaints and 5,000 scam reports submitted by military consumers in 2018.

Veterans account for about 7% of the U.S. population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. They are an economically diverse group, said Betsy Gwin, associate director of Harvard Law School's Veterans Legal Clinic. “While veterans are over-represented in the homeless population, they are also over-represented among Fortune 500 CEOs," she said.

A lot of factors can make the difference between success and failure when service members leave the military, Gwin said, starting with the information they receive as part of the Transition Assistance Program. The program, created in 1991, consists of four hours of counseling and five days of classroom instruction that includes a session on financial management.

Veterans who don't have a safety net, housing or a job and are unsure of how to apply for military benefits when they leave the service can have a difficult time, Gwin said.

Billy Lee Green, who lives near Jackson, Mississippi, didn't own a car or home or much of anything else when he retired from the Navy after 23 years. His family came back to the U.S. after living on a base in Japan where they didn't need much.

Show caption Hide caption Billy Green, of Brandon, Mississippi, left, sits in his living room with granddaughter Claire Green, 6, working on a reading lesson with word cards as... Billy Green, of Brandon, Mississippi, left, sits in his living room with granddaughter Claire Green, 6, working on a reading lesson with word cards as his wife, Lynne, reads a story to Hannah, 8, right, with Kiersten, 10, looking on. Barbara Gauntt/Clarion Ledger

He didn't have experience managing household finances.

“My parents didn’t teach me about finances and things like that,” said Green, 61. “I did what they did. They lived on credit.”

Green said he received three separate cash advances between 2013 and 2016 that totaled $42,000. The payment plan for one of the advances had a 25% interest rate.

Copy text Copy this quote's text The quote has been copied Tweet Facebook LinkedIn Share this article on LinkedIn Reddit Share this article on Reddit Billy Lee Green, Navy veteran The thing that people don't realize is that whenever you are hurting for money and you need money, when you know it's right there, you just get in more trouble and more trouble and more trouble. It seems like it's never enough when you get it. Quote icon

After losing a good job that paid $65,000 a year, Green found himself working at a Walmart for $6 an hour. It wasn't enough. Green had a son in a private college in Missouri. He adopted his oldest daughter's four children.

"The thing that people don't realize is that whenever you are hurting for money and you need money, when you know it's right there, you just get in more trouble and more trouble and more trouble," Green said. "It seems like it's never enough when you get it."

He ended up deeper in debt, owing $65,000 in military benefits for that $42,000.

Debts, lawsuit and cost of living add up to 'perfect storm' for veteran, investor

After leaving the Army, Michael Haring moved to Colorado because there was an abundance of government-contract jobs there, he said. But his divorce left him in dire financial straits.

“I had very little income because of the obligations that I was paying and because of the debt that I had incurred," he said.

Out of desperation, Haring accepted an offer in March 2013 from a company that he found online. In exchange for a lump-sum payment, he agreed to pay half of the $1,600 in monthly military disability benefits to an investor for five years.

“There was no interest-rate disclosure that would normally be required when you’re taking out a loan,” Haring said. He also said there was no mention of federal anti-assignment laws that prohibit veterans from selling their military benefits.

The company required Haring to pay off a student loan and buy a life insurance policy. After he met those obligations, he said, he received about $23,000. An attorney for the investor who bought his benefits said Haring received nearly twice that amount.

Shortly after he received the lump-sum payment, Haring's teenage son was seriously injured when a pickup crashed into his bicycle, Haring said. The medical bills from two surgeries and extensive physical therapy added up.

“The cost of living in Denver skyrocketed around this time as well. So it was really a perfect storm,” he said.

Michael Haring talks on the phone while working at the U.S. Department of the Interior in Denver, Colorado. JOSH MORGAN/Staff

After making 10 monthly payments to the investor who provided the lump-sum payment, he could no longer afford the obligation, Haring said.

Attorney Candy Kern-Fuller sued Haring in Greenville County, South Carolina, in February 2016 on behalf of the investor, Korean War Army veteran Martin M. Moore.

Haring filed for bankruptcy two months later. His petition listed $96,000 in liabilities, including a $37,000 debt to Moore. His bankruptcy case was closed in January 2017, and Haring said he assumed Kern-Fuller would stop pursuing the suit against him in Greenville.

But the litigation dragged on for several more months.

“They didn’t seem to care,” he said. “It really set me off because there’s just no reason for it. The contract was a dischargeable debt.”

Haring said he spent $500 on an airline ticket and hotel reservation so he could attend a key hearing in Greenville. But Kern-Fuller abruptly dropped the suit in October 2017 after George Cauthen, an attorney with the Nelson, Mullins, Riley and Scarborough law firm, agreed to represent Haring for free.

Moore, 88, died last year in Texas.

'People who target veterans are a special kind of bad'

Haring says his life has improved in the past few years. He bought a townhouse in Longmont, Colorado, where he lives with his teenage son, Anthony. Their home is about 40 miles from the federal installation where Haring works as an oil and natural gas analyst for the U.S. Department of the Interior.

“I didn’t think I would ever buy a home again,” Haring said. “But I’m doing my best to be more financially aware and make better decisions.”

Copy text Copy this quote's text The quote has been copied Tweet Facebook LinkedIn Share this article on LinkedIn Reddit Share this article on Reddit Michael Haring, Army veteran People who target veterans like that are a special kind of bad. I hope they get what’s coming to them. I really do. Quote icon

Medication helps him deal with recurring migraines, and he has learned to recognize the warning signs that can trigger his PTSD.

Haring vividly remembers the six roadside bombs that detonated close to the armored Humvees he drove during his deployment in Iraq.

“Depending on where you are in proximity to it, it’s either a ‘whomp’ or a ‘crack,'” he said. “It takes you by surprise, and it releases a lot of energy. Even what would be considered a small IED releases a tremendous amount of energy, and it goes through everything — it goes through your truck, it goes through your arm and it goes through your body.

“The first thing you do when an IED goes off is you check yourself and you check your buddies,” Haring said. “There’s a really strange conversation that goes on after an IED blast. It consists of ‘You good? You good? You good?’ So you usually hear that about five or 10 times. And hopefully everybody answers.”

Michael Haring and his son, Anthony, talk while eating dinner together in their townhouse in Longmont, Colorado. JOSH MORGAN/Staff

Reflecting on his Army service, Haring expressed a sense of pride.

“Whether or not what we did served any purpose, I know I tried to do good when I was there,” he said.

But he has nothing good to say about the businesses that seek to profit from buying and selling veterans’ benefits.

“People who target veterans like that are a special kind of bad,” Haring said. “I hope they get what’s coming to them. I really do.”

Explore more Indebted stories

Veterans suffered, investors lost millions in nationwide schemes

'Everybody got money except me:' How alleged benefits scams duped investors

Attorney who sued disabled veterans withheld key details from SC judges

The rise and fall of 'mastermind' and 'central banker' of alleged nationwide scheme

Mark Corbett's photo wasn't real. Neither were the promises to veterans

7 key takeaways from Indebted, an investigation of veterans benefits schemes

Veterans investment schemes are complicated and confusing. Here's how they typically work

Smart people fall for financial scams all the time. Here are ways to see them coming

How The Greenville News investigated nationwide financial schemes targeting veterans