subject: Beware Of Scams On Credit Repair [print this page] When financial mistakes we made in the past come back to haunt us, we can get really drained and hopeless. We can't get good credit, our savings are running too low and some creditors would approve our loan application but with a staggering interest rate. There are just times we would like to shout, "Please! Somebody fix my credit score." You might just get a response from a number of people and most of them are scammers.
We are all aware of the cliche "desperate times call for desperate measures" but we do not want our desperation to make the situation even worse for us. Do not trust "quick fix" method because it may only lead you even more buried in debt. In turn, your credit score will even be pulled lower than it already is. This may prevent you from recovering from your debt, ever.
It is important that you recognize scams. There are legitimate creditors who do offer to get you out of debt but they would never promise anything in advance. Scams usually promise to clean your debt instantly or very quickly for a fee. They pose as legitimate credit report service that will only take hundreds of your money and vanish. They pose ads on television, radio and the newspaper. They never tell you much and sometimes, they will only advise you to file for bankruptcy after you pay them.
Since there are legitimate companies who do offer to repair your credit, what you can do is watch for the telltale signs that what you are responding to is a fraud. Most fraudulent credit report service will want you to pay their offered services even before they act on it. They would never advise you of your legal rights and if they do, they would omit some important details because they are only doing it for a show. After all, they would like to convince you that they are legitimate.
Once you tell them to "fix my credit score" they would not recommend that you contact a credit bureau directly but they would offer to do it for you. Sometimes, they would suggest that you make up a "new" report by applying for a different Employer Identification Number instead of your Social Security number. They would even advise that you dispute everything in your report or go to the extreme of creating a new credit identity. Creating a new identity is illegal and you will commit fraud if you do. This will only subject you to prosecution if you are caught. Do everything the legal way.
