Comparing Related Financial Services - In addition to the credit card company advertisers listed below, Debtconsolidationloan.com offers a wide variety of consumer finance program listings to assist you with controlling your debts and other money management needs. Consolidate credit card bills with debt consolidation loans or use a credit counseling service for help with your getting your monthly budget under control.

• Debt Management Programs - Too many debts and payments to be able to keep up? Compare different debt management services that may be able to help you get control of your bills.
• Credit Card Debt Settlement - Too much debt? List of companies providing this alternative to bankruptcy that provides for debt negotiation and arbitration services for those that need to eliminate debt.
• Personal Loan Company - Need a personal loan for debt consolidation? These types of loans often do not require collateral and are available to homeowners, as well as renters.

Protect Against Bad Deals and Scams that Arrive by Phone, Letter and the Internet

Beware of crooks impersonating legitimate businesses, charities and other organizations

Four

Assume that any offer that "sounds too good to be true" – especially one from a stranger or an unfamiliar company – is probably a fraud. Common examples include:

• A telephone call or a letter notifying you of winning a lottery or a sweepstakes that you don't remember entering, and you are told to pay "taxes" or "fees" before you can claim your prize.
• A promise of an investment paying significantly above market rates.
• A fake job offer that promises to pay a lot for doing very little (such as stuffing packages or envelopes at home) and may involve handling or wiring money. "The crooks mostly want to learn your Social Security Number from your application or they want you to deposit a fraudulent check and then wire money to them out of your bank account," said Michael Benardo, manager of the FDIC‘s financial crimes section. (Read more about fake check scams.)
• An Internet friendship or romance that soon leads to pleas for money and secrecy.

If you think that you've already been fooled by a con artist, you can file a complaint with the government at www.lookstoogoodtobetrue.com/complaint.aspx, a Web site that is a joint effort of federal law enforcement agencies and corporate partners. You can also contact the Federal Trade Commission toll-free at 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357) and your local police or the police where the fraud took place. Ask to file a written report about the incident.

FDIC Consumer News is published by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation

FDIC Consumer News is produced quarterly by the FDIC Office of Public Affairs in cooperation with other Divisions and Offices. It is intended to present information in a nontechnical way and is not intended to be a legal interpretation of FDIC or other government regulations and policies. Mention of a product, service or company does not constitute an endorsement.

Find current and past issues of FDIC Consumer News at http://www.fdic.gov/consumernews. Refer to this same index to locate the issues that are specially formatted for being reprinted in any quantity.

To receive an e-mail notice about each new issue of FDIC Consumer News posted on the FDIC Web site, with links to stories, follow instructions posted at www.fdic.gov/about/subscriptions/index.html.

Last updated on 2/2/2007

Make better decisions when shopping for banking, debt consolidation and related financial services. Educate yourself!

The Debt Consolidation Loan Directory has a growing library of free informative and educational financial resources for consumers shopping for many types of financial services related to the management of your finances, such as the consolidation of credit card debt, fraud alerts and life insurance. There is no better way to make decisions regarding the management of your personal finances than to read and understand how they work. Please feel free to visit our consumer information library to learn more.

• Do You Know the Warning Signs of Too Much Debt? - Take control of your spending as soon as you recognize any of the warning signs cited by this article provided by CitiFinancial.
• What Do Banks Do? - A bank is a private, for-profit business that offers a variety of financial services to the public.
• Learning about Bank CDs (Certificates of Deposit) - Learn about the different types of bank CDs and how to choose the type that is right for you.
• Pros and Cons of Internet Banking - Review some of the positive and negative aspects of Internet online banking.

DebtConsolidationLoan.com is a service of Infinamic, Inc. All debt consolidation loans and financial services information is deemed reliable, but not guaranteed. Infinamic, Inc. is not responsible for the content and services, that may be provided to you, by following the links from this web site. Use this service at your own discretion.