A court has temporarily shut down a network of 17 related companies accused of running a credit repair scheme that took nearly $200 million from consumers. The FTC says the operation used paid search ads to catch people who were searching for information about a debt, then steered them to its own telemarketers.
According to the complaint, callers sometimes posed as debt collectors or creditors, promised to raise credit scores by removing negative items, and asked for small upfront charges, sometimes just a dollar “to verify your identity.” A much larger fee often followed, plus recurring monthly charges that were hard to cancel. Some ads reportedly targeted military servicemembers who owed money to military-related creditors.
How to protect yourself and your parents:
- Be wary of any company that charges you before it has done any work. The FTC alleges upfront fees in this case were illegal.
- Remember that no one can promise to erase accurate negative information from your credit report.
- If a search ad leads to a call about a debt, confirm who you’re really speaking with by contacting the creditor directly.
- Check your credit reports for free at AnnualCreditReport.com and dispute errors yourself at no cost.
The case is still ongoing, and the allegations have not yet been decided by the court.
Source: FTC Consumer Protection