I received a disturbing email this week from someone I regularly recommend to you.
Leo Quinn has been a personal finance educator since 1997.
One of his readers is now $10,000+ deeper in debt because she sought help from one of the big names in the "get out of debt" business. (ironic, I know)
Leo wants to get the word out so others don't fall for the same sleazy tactics.
Sadly this gentleman's program is sold by probably the biggest and oldest self-development company in the country.
Without naming names here is what you should be wary of...
Here is the disturbing part...from the email Leo received...
There is no way they can justify making people go $7095+ deeper into debt for "get out of debt" coaching.
So let this message be a warning to you and feel free to forward it to all your friends and relatives.
Leo suggests if you should ever get scammed out of a large sum of money like this, immediately call your credit card company and have them reverse the charges.
Some states have laws about "cooling off periods" after signing contracts. Look into that as well.
If you are behind on some bills and they are causing you a lot of stress, find some local help from: http://www.debtadvice.org/TakeTheFirstStep/locator.cfm
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Leo Quinn is author of Own Your Own Paycheck Again
http://www.leoquinn.com/cmd.php?af=255369
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Leo Quinn has been a personal finance educator since 1997.
One of his readers is now $10,000+ deeper in debt because she sought help from one of the big names in the "get out of debt" business. (ironic, I know)
Leo wants to get the word out so others don't fall for the same sleazy tactics.
Sadly this gentleman's program is sold by probably the biggest and oldest self-development company in the country.
Without naming names here is what you should be wary of...
- They advertise a lot on radio.
- They encourage you to call for a free CD.
- The program sells for $99 or so.
- They then will try to sell you on their coaching program.
Here is the disturbing part...from the email Leo received...
"They sold me the coaching program before I even received the ($99) materials. There are three levels, 1 year for $14,955, 9 months for $13,195, 6 months for $11,435 and 3 months for $7095. They sell you whatever will fit on your credit cards, or they will finance it, if you qualify. I ended up with a 3 month program for $7095, which (saleperson) had figured out and split up on the available balances on three of my credit cards before I could blink, let alone think."What particularly disgusts me about this is that they survey you about the amount of debt AND how much room you have on your credit cards and push you toward the "level" you can "afford".
There is no way they can justify making people go $7095+ deeper into debt for "get out of debt" coaching.
So let this message be a warning to you and feel free to forward it to all your friends and relatives.
Leo suggests if you should ever get scammed out of a large sum of money like this, immediately call your credit card company and have them reverse the charges.
Some states have laws about "cooling off periods" after signing contracts. Look into that as well.
If you are behind on some bills and they are causing you a lot of stress, find some local help from: http://www.debtadvice.org/TakeTheFirstStep/locator.cfm
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Leo Quinn is author of Own Your Own Paycheck Again
http://www.leoquinn.com/cmd.php?af=255369
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4 comments:
Without "naming names" as you say, this is nothing more than a sales pitch, even though it sounds like a public service announcement.
As a "sales pitch" - OK
but this can be perceived as misleading as the "other that has no name"
I think we should expose these scamsters, name names, tell who this is. I was scammed in a similar way about 10 years ago to the tune of 8,000 although it was'nt for a debt reduction program, it was for a program with a seminar that included dealing in closeout merchandise and international dealing. They were located in Utah and have since gone out of business..hooray!!
Hi
Stuart here in the UK. I have 20 years experience working for a major bank, several years of that as a debt counsellor.
My number 1 piece of advice is NEVER EVER pay anyone who says they can help you get out of debt.
Seek out the advice of the various free debt counselling agencies (look in the phone book) such as Citizens Advice Bureau (in the UK)
www.printsmakeprofits.com for a step by step guide to a hidden eBay niche ANYONE can exploit
Robin,
Thank you for the head's-up on this scam. I was involved in something similar a few weeks ago. There was a slight difference though. My "salesperson" got me on the phone with my credit card company & charged the $4000. fee over the phone. When I decided there were too many discrepensies between the sales pitch & reality, I attempted to reverse the charges w/my credit card company. Well, guess what! The charges were a "balance transfer" & not reversible. After much finangaling, (signed - witnessed - notarized) paperwork, etc, I was refunded $2500. The package was unused, but they said they could not resell, so did not accept returns.
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