Avoiding Debt Elimination Fraud

Look Out For These Fraud Red Flags

While many consumers in the world today need help with their overwhelming debt, it is important to avoid debt elimination fraud at all costs. There are, in fact, many legitimate services that are available to help consumers manage their debts, yet there are also those services that prey on the uninformed consumer. These types of services promise to help you handle your debt, but in reality, all they do is take your money and leave you and  your credit in a worse position than you ever were before. Therefore, consumers should be very careful when searching for a service that will help them with their debts.

The best way to avoid a potential debt elimination scam is to be informed about what to look for. It is important to realize that anyone can organize a website and advertise debt elimination services. It is up to the consumer to do the research and determine whether or not the debt service is a legitimate company that will actually aid the consumer with his or her debt.

Look out for the following signs of fraud when choosing a debt elimination company:

• Companies that promise to erase your unsecured debts. This is not possible and it is a clear indication of debt elimination fraud.
  
   
• Any service that requires a consumer to pay hefty monthly service fees.
   
• Promises to erase your existing bad credit information.
   
• Assures you creditors will never sue when you stop making payments.
   
• Asks for payments to be made to their organization, instead of your
  creditors.
   
• Tells you to stop communicating with your creditors, and stop paying them.
   
• Advises you that participating in their program will not result in any type of negative credit reporting.

If you happen to note any of the above red flags when researching a  debt elimination service, do not deal with that particular company. To do so could be harmful to your credit, and cost you a lot of money you may never recover.  These  companies that are engaged in debt elimination fraud sometimes call themselves "non-profit" to attract more debt troubled consumers.

If you are unsure of how to locate a reputable service to assist you with your debts, you can check out a company you are interested in through the Better Business Bureau to see if any complaints have been filed.  However if a given company is not a member of the BBB, it doen't necessarily mean it is a bad company

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