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Consumers warned of credit fix scams

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Johannesburg - As more and more SA consumers struggle to cope with debt, growing numbers of unscrupulous fraudulent online credit “fixers” are emerging to take advantage of their plight, according to Gayle Mower, fraud specialist at TransUnion.

“There are dozens of advertisements on popular online classified websites such as Gumtree and OLX that promise debt-ridden consumers that they can 'get your name removed from the blacklist', 'rehabilitate your credit profile', 'get judgments removed from your credit record' – all for a ‘reasonable fee," said Mower in a statement.

“In many instances, the service being offered is a scam,” she said.

Mower pointed out that there is no easy, quick-fix way to remove or delete one’s record of debt or to rehabilitate a credit record. No unauthorised company or lawyer can simply remove negative data from the credit bureau, regardless of how much you pay them.

She reminded consumers that there is an easy – free – process consumers can follow should they wish to dispute any information on their credit report.

The first step is to obtain your free credit report from a credit bureau – every consumer is entitled to one free credit report from every credit bureau every 12 months.

If there is information that doesn’t appear to be accurate in the report, consumers can contact the credit bureau directly and register a dispute. The bureau will then investigate, respond within 20 days and, if necessary, take remedial action.

“There is no charge for this service and absolutely no need to work through an intermediary, not even those who claim to have many years’ experience in ‘fixing’ credit problems,” Mower said.

TransUnion advised people considering responding to advertisements about fixing credit records to:

- Check that the service provider was a legitimate, registered business. This could be done through the National Credit Regulator's website as all legitimate debt counsellors had to be registered with it;

- Be wary of any business or lawyer claiming to work for the credit bureau, and phone the credit bureau directly to confirm this;

- Take into account that a legitimate business was unlikely to communicate with clients via WhatsApp or a non-business, social-media type e-mail, such as Yahoo mail or Gmail; and

- Realise that a legitimate business was unlikely to support e-wallet transfers.

- Fin24

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