There are a lot of scams out there and at DebtStoppers, we see the damage they cause people everyday. The scams vary, but there's one thing they all have in common – they all sound too good to be true. And that's the one thing that we can all learn to be alert for. So please remember:

If it sounds too good to be true… it probably is!

What do I mean by too good to be true? If you pay attention, you can teach yourself to listen for it in the advertising claims these people make. Ever heard this one?

"Bad credit, no credit, no problem!" Or "We guarantee credit approval." Sound too good to be true? It is. No legitimate lender will guarantee credit approval. Anyone who does is looking to rip you off. Learn to listen for the scam!

Credit "repair" is another scam that comes with some pretty fantastic claims:

"Repair your credit today." "Wipe your credit report clean." "Erase liens, judgments, foreclosures and late payments from your credit report – 100% guaranteed!"

Basically, what these companies promise is that for a fee, they'll help you fight the legality of your credit card debt. They claim that your credit card debt is illegal because of provisions in the Fair Debt Collections Practices Act or the Fair Credit Billing Act. But the truth is, nothing in these laws makes credit card debt illegal. They may also tell you that the credit card company held back certain information from you when you applied for the card, making their contract with you invalid. Sounds good, but this isn't true either.

Bottom line? If you used the card, you owe the money. That's all there is to it.

If there's information on your credit report that is inaccurate or out of date, you can have it removed at no cost. Get a copy of your credit report and challenge anything that's incorrect. If you're right, it'll be removed – but don't pay anyone to do it for you. They can't do anything for you that you can't do yourself – for free!

But if the information on your credit report is accurate, it will be there for up to 6 years. And there's nothing either you or a "credit doctor" can do about it.

If a company is promising to "erase your bad credit," you've got to know that it falls under the category of too good to be true. Walk away!