Avoid Credit Repair Companies; Don't Become A Victim

Online, March 16, 2011 (Newswire.com) - Dealing with your credit problems may be a very unpleasant task but it is something that you can absolutely handle on your own. Many of the strategies that credit repair companies use can be found at www.myfreecreditrepair.org. Credit repair scams are everywhere and as a consumer it may be hard for you to determine who's legit and which company is out to scam you.

I've found an article reported on swtimes.com that can help:

That's a good piece of advice when it comes to protecting oneself from a consumer scam, according to Sgt. Daniel Grubbs, public information officer with the Fort Smith Police Department.

"If your first impulse is 'How can that be?' 'Wow, what a great deal!' or 'How can that be possible?,' it's probably because it's not," Grubbs said. The Arkansas Attorney General's office receives hundreds of complaints each year about possible scams, especially those in which Arkansas consumers are confronted with sales pitches or deals that seem dubious.

As part of National Consumer Protection Week last week, Arkansas Attorney General Dustin McDaniel identified the top five most common consumer scams to help consumers avoid falling prey to such prevalent cons.
"The best way to prevent yourself from falling victim to a scam is to be educated about the scammers' tactics and be ready to say 'No' to any deal you're unsure about," McDaniel said in a news release. "We encourage consumers to ask questions, go online to check the legitimacy of the party you're dealing with or contact our Consumer Protection Division if they are concerned."
McDaniel's office handled more than 10,000 complaints last year, many of which were related to concerns about legitimate business dealings. Of those recognized as complaints about scams, these five were identified as the most common - cramming, credit repair, wire fraud, yo-yo sales and Internet auction fraud.

Cramming is the practice of the placement of unauthorized charges on a telephone bill, according to McDaniel. They can range from a few cents to a few dollars, but are applied to a bill without a consumer's permission and are not charges for phone service. They are usually charges for other products or additional services by a third party.

In a recent letter to the editor, David Hughes of Hackett describes how he was a victim of cramming when he noticed unexpected and unwarranted "premium text messaging" charges of $9.99 added to his invoice. A call to his cellular provider revealed they had him signed up for the premium texting service.

"I had not signed up for anything or knowingly provided my cell phone number, but there it was, nonetheless," Hughes wrote in the letter. McDaniel recommended that consumers be diligent in reading phone bills each month, like Hughes did. Although he said he had to pay the charges, Hughes did request a block be placed on his account, to avoid third-party charges.

In the credit repair scam, fraudulent agencies attempt to "help" a consumer repair credit by receiving payment in advance for the service. Federal law prohibits any company from receiving advance payment in exchange for "repairing" a consumer's credit score, according to McDaniel. The best way to improve one's credit is to make timely, prompt debt payments.

The wire fraud scam is one that has been seen in this area, according to Grubbs. In one type of wire fraud scam, callers claim to be the victim's grandchild or a friend in jeopardy asking for money to be wired to them, often out of the country.

"In some of the phone calls the elderly receive, there's been an accident in a far-off place and they've been arrested for DWI," Grubbs explained. "They tell the elderly person to wire the money to an overseas location or in Canada. Most of the people do it."

Sue Crowly of Fort Smith almost fell prey to the wire fraud scam recently. Crowly received a call from someone claiming to be her grandson who had been arrested in Canada and needed $1,800 in bail money.
"He said, 'I promise you'll get the money back,' but he was so embarrassed that he didn't know who to call," Crowly told the Times Record in a January article.

After going to the bank to get money, Crowly went to a local grocery store to wire the money when she was informed by a store clerk of the scam. "When it's your grandchild, all common sense goes out the window," Crowly said in the article. McDaniel said a simple way to avoid this scam - which scammers also operate through work-at-home schemes or fake sweepstakes - is to never wire money. Unlike credit card charges, once money is wired, it is virtually impossible to recall the wire transfer and get the money back, according to McDaniel.

In the yo-yo sales tactics scam, consumers agree to terms to purchase a car and go home with the vehicle. Upon returning days later to finalize paperwork, the terms have changed in the form of higher finance costs or new loan terms. McDaniel advised that in such cases, state law provides that the buyer can cancel the purchase, return the car without any charge for use and recover any down payment or trade-in.

Victims of the online auction fraud usually purchase an item on an Internet site and are asked to wire the money for the purchase, but never receive the item. Most "sellers" use a fake name and fake e-mail address to perpetrate the fraud. Most legitimate sellers will supply a phone number in addition to e-mails.

Grubbs said people often encounter similar scams on websites such as Craigslist.
"When you try to overly prove the validity of the vehicle or whatever you're trying to sell, that should be a red flag," explained Grubbs. "If you ask the right questions and don't skew from what you know is right to confirm the validity of a transaction, that's the time (for the scammer) to back away."

Read more: swtimes.com

A lot of scams are worded in a manner that is designed to throw off the potential victims so you must pay careful attention as to the vocabulary that the ads use.

When you're dealing with you personal and sensitive information try to do business with local businesses if possible. That way if there's an issue you can deal with them face to face.

If repairing your credit there are quite a few non-profit companies you can use as well as myfreecreditrepair.org. This site offers the "Credit Bible" that will allow you to legally and ethically repair your credit.