A Credit Repair Scam I got put on a shared call for an obvious credit repair scam. The scammer - he would not let me talk and kept saying that I do not know what I am talking about. I called him out and said it’s a scam and to let my friend out of the situation.
There were a LOT of red flags in that discussion, and I had to raise my voice because he kept talking over me. If it were a legitimate company, he would have had me research their program and offer a website – but he just bulldozed over me. Any website that I searched for came up with a similar named company that does not work with this type of credit repair or debt relief program – the scammer is using the credentials of a legitimate company to piggyback their credibility off of them.
He (the scammer) said he can wipe out the credit card debt of my friend by having him make three minimum payments in a row to the credit card companies – then the debt would be taken care of by the credit repair scam. He said all the credit card information ran through their software program and the program told where the person was being “over-charged by the bank.” Once the “over-charges” are found, the balance of the credit card debt belongs to the bank. Why did he keep saying “the bank” when talking about the credit card company?
He said if “over-charges” are found. “the bank” owns the debt, not the consumer. I kept saying the debt belongs to the person who charged it, not to any company or bank. If they are going to have the balance written off, it will be a negative effect on my friend’s credit rating. Once a person charges his card, that person who made the charge owns the debt – period! Not “the bank.”
The scammer told my friend that the way they make money is to expose “over-charges” (is that fees or wrong amounts keyed in or what?) then they keep the “over-charges.” That makes no sense because the scam company does not own any “over-charges” from other entities.
Credit card companies can charge high interest rates – so, read the fine print before ever getting a one. As soon as you use the card, that interest rate applies. To avoid being charged the interest fee, pay off the balance every month by the due date. If the balance isn’t paid off, interest fees add in. That is not something a company can say is an “over-charge.”
I said I can help the friend and get him out of this mess. The scammer said obviously I never offered to help when it was needed before, so why offer now, and he questioned why anyone would believe I would help. He said I am only impeding him helping my friend. He said they have helped tens of thousands of people in the same situation. I said that is a lie or there would be reviews on the Internet.
Thankfully my friend only gave information on 2 defunct cards – one was closed for non-payment, and the other was canceled with a new card being sent. So, the scammer had no active cards to run any scams on. Giving them a card number does not allow them to run a program to look for “over-charges” in the history – that would require a password log-in, which was not given. This is confirmation of a scam – making up a “crisis” to get people to react to fix it. They act as if it urgent and only a short period of time their offer is valid for you – so act fast.
All that said, there may be a legitimate program to give debt relief but look for a known reputable company as there are too many scams. If you get an offer in a solicitation, do not respond to it, click links, or call the number on it. Google the company independently to find contact information, but make sure you have the correct website and not a clone (look at the website name for no misspellings), make sure it’s “https:” not “http:”, and check for bad grammar and misspellings on the site. Hover over links to see if it goes to a real website or gobbledygook mess of letters. A legitimate company is patient, works with you, gives you information to check out, and does not push.
Credit card repair is done with a plan to pay down the debt, not erase it. They might also make a pay-off offer for less than the debt to get it paid off in full.
Before you sign up with ANY program, check if it’s a scam – or have a trusted person check. Some will already have caused damage before you can undo the sign-up. They have all kinds of information on you and are likely in process of charging your cards, or draining your bank account, or stealing your identity, or who knows what else. So, before you act or react, check for it being a scam. PR
Credit repair scams can harm your credit
Member of Ethical Group
Held to high ethical standards, members of the Chamber of Commerce are reputable businesses.
Have Money Issues?
How to survive on a budget.
A Better Life & Better You
Health tips, ways to do things better and more efficiently, Christian topics and more. My experiences shared for a better us. Check out my blog!