May 8, 2008

5 Tips for Avoiding Credit Repair Service Scams

by Richard Lakin

If you want to restore your credit, then you should keep some things in your mind. Contrary to the rosy picture given by such service providers, repairing your credit is not an overnight job. If your credit score is bad, organizations that promise to fix your credit score may have called. These credit repair services will not be any help to you. Below are 5 methods to determine if a scam credit repair service is attempting to fool you.

An Advanced Results Guarantee

Avoid any advanced results guaranteed by the company which doesn't bother to look at your unique situation before it offers you that guarantee. Simply put, these are the people who will tell you whatever it is that you want to hear and then run off with your money in the end. It may be pleasant to hear the good tidings from a credit repair service but you just cannot decide on such services that make a grand promise with nothing to back it up. Often this is a warning sign that a company is not as legitimate as it may have seemed at first.

Requires a Large Up-Front Payment

If a company asks you to pay them up front, then you should be very concerned about their validity. This is even truer for those scam credit repair services that want a large payment before they will even begin. It is not a happy thought, but there are people out there who are looking to pull the wool over your eyes. If they can do that under the veil of repairing credit, then they will hold no punches. Before you dedicate a large portion of your money to a scam credit repair service up front, you should consult other credit repair help options.

Changing your Identification Numbers

If a credit repair service comes to you and makes promises of improving your credit score by giving you're a brand new identity, you should run far away. These companies will often try to tell you that they can help you by giving you a brand new social security number or a tax identification number. Not only will this not help repair your credit, but it is also a crime. You can get into big trouble messing around with those sorts of numbers.

They Contacted You

Don't expect a company that advertises with spam email to be reputable. Credit repair services that do not attempt to engage your business via spam are far more likely to provide you with reputable service.

Use your Common Sense

If it doesn't feel right, then there is a strong possibility that it is not right. Common sense should guide the majority of your financial decisions and this one is no different. You should know, at this point, what a legitimate business looks like and what a scam looks like. If you start to feel uncomfortable at any point during your interaction with a given company, then it is time to look in another direction.

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