10 Signs To Recognize a Credit Repair Scam
How To Notice Credit Repair Scams
In this short review you can read and learn how to spot signs for credit repair scams. Unfortunately there are some people who make an effort to scam money out of people who are in a bad credit situation. The scammers take advantage of people who have low credit and are so distressed that they are easy to manipulate.
Below you will see some of the signs of a credit repair scams which you ought to look out for before you sign any paper or documentation or pay sleazy people hundreds of dollars to fix your credit. The rule number one is ‘there are no free meals’… If the offer sound too good to be true, it is probably is.
Improving Credit Score Should Be Your Quest
It would be safe to say that when you improve your credit score you would save more money than you ever imagined!! Banks, lenders and credit card companies charge much higher interest rate from people with low credit. So when two people buy the same house, the one with bad credit score would pay a much higher price on the mortgage! The difference might reach $30,000 between the two identical loans!
Improving your credit score should be your QUEST!
People who are usually victims to credit Restoration scams are those, who can not achieve a proper mortgage or are getting declined by too many financial institutes. It does not matter if your score is over 500 or below 600 on the FICO scale, if you are desperate to improve your score, you might fall in the greasy fingers of the scammers.
Scams are always succeeding at people who are desperate. People who fail to detect refinance scam attempt, might even lose their home.
How To Spot A Credit Repair Scam Offer
Too-Good-To-Be-True Promises- If the credit repair service promises they can create a new identity for you and get you a brand new perfect FICO report. Or they promise to delete ALL your negative items from your FICO report (regardless of their accuracy). That’s a BEWARE SCAM sign for you.
Pay Before You See Results- If the scammers promise to boost your 500 score to 800 FICO score within a week, but request a $1000 advance payment. It’s a scam!
Switching Your Identity – If the credit repair service offers you to get a ‘new identity’ instead of your Social Security number. Beware it might be a scam in which you might be committing a federal crime and end up behind bars.
Ask You To Pay For Free Stuff - The credit bureaus (Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion) have a lot of information on their sites and some of the credit repair steps are things you can get for free. Credit repair scammers might ask you to pay for a credit report copy, while you have the right for one free report per year, from each of the three credit agencies.
Recommend No Contact With Credit Bureaus - Since credit scams are fooling people to think that letters are being sent, and phone-call are being made, they will recommend the victim not to contact the credit reporting companies. A simple email inquiry might reveal no letters have been sent, and nothing has been done. Be alert, blow the whistle on their bluff.
ALL Negative Items Will Be Removed – Beware of this one, this credit scam might drown you in deep trouble. First of all no one can delete correct and accurate items off the FICO report. Second, if false information is sent to the credit reporting companies in order to remove accurate items – That’s a fraud attempt, which is a federal crime.
Charge You For Each Dispute Letter – If the credit repair service asks for a fee each time they send a dispute letter then you should have your ‘scam alert’ sirens start blowing. Under the FCRA regulations, writing dispute letters is free! You can write as many dispute letters as needed (as long as they have legit claims) and they all will be free of charge. Writing dispute letters is FREE, unless you are hiring a credit repair lawyer, which will charge you hundred of dollars for each email they send.
Three Day Rescission Rights – As a customer you are protected by the Truth in Lending Act (TILA)you have the right to rescind within three days and get back a full refund of fees or payments you have been charged. If the scam credit service wants to proceed immediately, be alert, they are not allowed to do anything until the three rescission days are over.
Non Profit Credit Organisations Are Not FREE- People who have low credit are tempted by advertisements made by ‘nonprofit’ credit repair organisations who claim they can help. A non profit organisation may be a deceiving disguise for a credit repair scam. These ‘nonprofit companies’ might ask for payments for procedures that can be done for free (write dispute letters or request the free annual credit report). Con artists love to use the non-profit ‘voluntary’ scheme, and con thousands of dollars from people in distress.
Identity Theft Credit Scams- Some credit repair schemes are based on convincing the person applying that he is treated by professionals who ‘know what they are doing’ and have their ‘secret’ ways to solve every issue. They might ask the client to send them the original documentation for the dispute letters and resolving credit matters (NEVER send originals!!) when they get hold of the victims original documentation, identity theft becomes easy!
Credit Repair Scam Warning Signs
You must be more educated on how to fix your credit problems. Here below are two programs for credit repair, they both cost less than any credit lawyer or repair service, and they will help you step-by-step to improve your score.
If you think you spot one or more of these signs for credit repair scams, contact the local or state office of General Attorney! There is nothing to fear from, as there are so many laws protecting you, regardless of your credit score or financial position. Even if you think you have been tricked or ripped off, it is best you approach the GA office rather than be caught by a cross investigation on attempt for fraud or being dishonest concerning a loan.
