Chances are, you have heard a great deal about the escalating consumer debt crisis and the ever growing debt snowball. Aside from receiving potentially harmful advice about consolidation methods, there are other things to be concerned about. In particular, you will need to make sure that you do not become a victim of fraud or identity theft.
When you seek counseling advice for bad debts, you will need to provide some sensitive information. In particular, you may be asked to provide your social security number, date of birth, bank account numbers, and credit card numbers. Without a question, anyone that has this information has enough to steal your identity. Considering the number of websites created by debt settlement groups, it is virtually impossible to determine which ones are legitimate.
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In some cases, you may be able to review consumer protection sites, and see if there have been complaints launched against a specific debt counseling agency. At the same time, it is equally important to realize that a complete website can be set up in under 24 hours. Therefore, an identity thief can create pages so quickly, there will not be enough time for consumer protection or law enforcement to catch the perpetrator.
Aside from this, there are a large number of debt counseling groups that are nothing more than scams. As an example, some debt settlement counselors will force you to pay them a fee simply for the right to sign on with them. From there, they will continue to take monthly payments from you until your creditor "comes up with a settlement plan". Strangely enough, you don't need a counselor to do this job for you. In many cases, your creditors will send you settlement agreements of their own accord. All you will have to do is take advantage of these offers as they come in, and get rid of your debt.
There are also consumer debt counselors that are outright frauds. In many cases, they will tell you to not have any contact at all with your creditor. Unfortunately, they may not be contacting your creditor either. As may be expected, you will be making monthly payments to the debt counselor, with no real way to prove that you money is, in fact, going to pay your debts. Over the years, there have been cases where people did not find out about these scams until they were driven into bankruptcy court by their creditors.
If you need help managing your debts, it is best to start with a visit to your lawyer or an accountant. They will be able to refer you to a reliable debt settlement service, or perhaps suggest some other solution. In some cases, you may even find that your lawyer can give you enough advice to manage your debts on your own. Not only will this be cheaper, you will have much more control over your finances and budget.
Unfortunately, today's economy creates the perfect setting for scam artist, identity thieves, and other white collar criminals. When you are seeking debt relief, there is no question that you are vulnerable to anyone and everyone that makes a claim to be able to settle your debts. Therefore, if you want to get help managing your debt, you will need to exercise caution, and make sure that you will be getting your money's worth.
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