Beware 'Debt Elimination' Scams

It seems like everyone wants an easy way out of everything. People spend like maniacs for years, then want to pay someone a simple fee to get rid of all their debt. It doesn't work like that, folks!

Here's a piece from Bankrate on debt elimination scams and how to handle them:

Eliminating debt is kind of like losing weight by not eating for two weeks. Firstly, it doesn't work and secondly, you get unintended consequences from trying, like injuring your health. Same thing with debt -- you have to earn more and spend less if you really want to eliminate debt from your life. There really are no quick fixes for either problem.

Of course, the scams abound, and you've run across one. One is that credit card lending is really illegal, so if you stop paying them and they take you to court, you'll win with the secret, and expensive, legal strategy you will be sold. Yours is a variation on that theme -- it's a scam, pure and simple. They probably want a big upfront fee. Don't pay it.

The piece ends with some very good advice:

My advice is to be very careful when strangers approach you with offers. They could well be identity thieves. Ignore these claims and work on getting yourself out of debt the old-fashioned way. Take a good, hard look at your income and expenses and look for ways to either increase the income or decrease the expenses until you can lighten your debt load.

If you want to get out of debt, check out some of these posts -- they may be of help to you:

• Get Out of Debt
• Nine Ways to Pay Off Debt
• 8 Ways to Consolidate Debt
• The Two Dumbest Ways to Pay Down Your Credit Card Debt
• Alarming Credit-Card Tricks

Comments

[Jay Fleischman]

I've seen a lot of people get sucked into these sorts of scams; they say that desperation leads to stupidity, and that's true. Being in debt is a horrible feeling, and there are solutions to the problem. One of those solutions is to remember that if something sounds too good to be true the likelihood is that it is too good to be true. It's just like those scams that offer to fix your credit by repeatedly disputing factually correct information - it's not only wrong, it's illegal. There are lots of ways to legally and safely correct credit reporting errors, get out of debt, and take control of your wallet - none of these scams will accomplish those goals.