Credit scams have been prevalent ever since credit reports became the mainstay in the decision making process. From companies promising to give you a new identity to credit repair scam artists charging hundreds (or even thousands) of dollars to make the negative items on your credit report “vanish”, illegal scams have damaged the reputation, personal data, and wallets of millions of innocent consumers.
The truth is that if you devote a little time and effort toward improving your credit history, you can take care of most of the issues on your own. It will take some education, research, and hard work but you would be much safer by taking matters in your hands, at least if you go about doing it the right way. If absolutely necessary, you can seek out a credit counselor, attorney, or non-profit organization approved by your local authorities. There are plenty of free services that would be in a better position to assist you.
No one can grant you a high score
Credit reporting agencies work with multiple variables, historical data, statistical tools, and extremely sophisticated algorithms to assign each individual a credit score. If a company promises to increase your credit score in exchange for money, you should be careful. You can’t just tweak someone’s credit score. It is not an editable number. If it were, over a third of the country wouldn’t be having credit issues today. We could all just pay someone to login to a national database and, voila, brand new credit score.
A lot of time, effort, and planning have to be expended in order to improve your credit score. Working with a counselor can help you in terms of outlining a plan, developing strategies, and accessing resources, but that in itself is by no means a guarantee. Furthermore, you can take some basic precautions yourself.
You may want to read our article about improving your credit score.
Instant repairs are a sign of credit scam
There is no quick fix when it comes to credit reports. It takes time to rebuild a damaged report. One needs to work systematically to improve various components that go into the credit report. Timely payment, ratio of balance due to total available credit, total credit available, and other similar parameters must be systematically targeted in order to achieve measurable gains on your credit report.
Credit scam originators promise to eliminate negative items
Invariably people fall for promises that claim to remove negative items magically. You can’t just remove a negative item from a credit report without going through a process. Furthermore, there must be a valid reason (such as inaccurate information) to request a review of your credit report. Money can’t make the negatives vanish. Be wary of companies that promise to just get rid of the negative items on your report.
Like other variables, if you see an item that is incorrect, you can contact the credit reporting agency yourself. No one needs to do the work on your behalf.
We’ll give you a new identity
If that’s what your credit scammer is promising you, run! To the best of our knowledge it would be illegal to create a new identity just to start afresh. Sounds like a Hollywood movie setup or a James Bond styled secret ID swap plot. Doesn’t work in the real world. Sorry!
Let’s piggyback you on someone else’s report
Sorry, but that doesn’t sound right either. First, you are providing extremely sensitive information about yourself to an unknown person — and thereby jeopardizing your security and privacy. Second, we would need to check the regulations on that.
Let’s get a blank form signed
Unless you want to give your life away to someone, you wouldn’t sign a blank form that gives the other party unlimited authority to act on your behalf. Never sign blank paperwork. If you are unsure, speak to a licensed attorney or a non-profit organization in your local area.
Most credit scam originators would contact you in an unsolicited manner, either via direct mail campaigns or e-mails. Remember, if something sounds too good to be true, it may not be. You may also want to read some credit scam tips provided by FTC (Federal Trade Commission).
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