In this financially driven world in which we live, our good credit scores are increasingly a matter of both necessity and pride.
People are so protective of their credit rating that they are willing to do just about anything to protect it.
Of course it is no bad thing to proactively try and protect your credit score, but for many the ravages of the economic down turn can make the idea of protecting their credit score seem like "too little, too late" as the damage may well have already been done.
When you have a bad credit rating, it can seem like a pointless activity to try and protect yourself and your credit score.
What seems like a better idea to many in this position is to try and rebuild their credit score - after all, is it not true that attack is the best form of defense? Even a fairly basic search engine check will display to you dozens of companies that claim to be able to solve your credit score problems.
Often the claims sound just a little bit too good to be true.
The question then becomes how you can tell whether or not a company is trying to scam you, or whether they are going to genuinely work in your interest.
There are some important things to watch out for if a company offers to help you improve your credit score.
The following are signs that the company may be more interested in scamming you than helping you.
Do not despair; however, as there are companies that genuinely want to give you the best advice and help for you, it's just that so often the scam companies seem to grab all the headlines.
Signs that the Credit Help company are trying to scam you: If they ask for money upfront from you.
This is a sure sign that there is going to be a problem in dealing with this company.
If the company tells you that they can help change the information held by the credit bureaus, despite this information being accurate.
Please note that this is only a problem if the information that is held about you is correct.
If the credit bureaus hold incorrect information then having them update and change their records is a good thing! If the company implies (or even worse, if they explicitly state) that you will not need to contact the credit bureaus yourself in order to have your details changed.
The truth is that these bureaus will not act on the information from a third party.
In other words, if you don't tell them about incorrect information, then they will not know about it, despite what the potentially scamming company may tell you.
If the company tries to help you to create a new credit file.
This is always a scam.
There are companies and organizations out there that will genuinely work with you and give you the best advice to help you.
The trouble is that it can be hard to find these organizations.
By taking on board the advice above, it should be possible to find the worst of the scamming companies, and therefore help you find the trust worthy sources.
But with all of this said, you must be acutely aware that there is nothing any of these credit repair companies can do for you that you cannot do yourself for free.
They do not have inside secrets, they do not have special connections, nor do they have magical powers, except perhaps the magical power to suck money out of your wallet.
With some due diligence on your part, you can find out how to do anything they could they for you, and the best part is you can do it for free!