DODGY credit rating repair websites are ripping off consumers and giving the credit file repair industry a bad name, according to GRAHAM DOESSEL from credit file repair firm MY CRA.

He warns that some suspect credit repair companies are on the loose scamming consumers via websites and SPAM email, and advises people to do their homework before giving anyone their personal information online.

“With the recent credit crisis, a whole host of new companies have sprung up offering to help people repair their credit history. Many, but not all of those firms online necessarily have the skills needed to do the job of credit file repair, but are taking money from people anyway” he says.

This follows finance expert PAUL CLITHEROE’S interview about credit ratings with Kerri-Ann Kennerley on her Channel 9 show last week. He advises people not to go through websites which offer to fix your credit history in order to clear defaults.

“Don’t go to websites saying ‘don’t you worry about a thing we’ll help you’. They’ll help you all right - they’ll help themselves to your money” Mr CLITHEROE says.

He advises consumers to deal directly with the main credit agencies and to not use an outside source to clear defaults on your credit rating.

On this second point, Mr DOESSEL disagrees “It is not as cut and dried as Mr CLITHEROE says. There is a real need for credit file repairers under the current system as the process can be fraught with difficulties. In most cases, a client can do more damage than good by not understanding the process fully, almost like trying to defend themselves in court” he says.  

He says in the majority of cases he sees of people attempting to remove the default themselves, the creditor flatly refuses and says that the best they can do is to mark the listing as paid (if it’s been paid). The creditor will then explain to the client that defaults DONT EVER get removed.  

“Right now any default will stop you obtaining a home loan with most lenders.  In fact at the moment, even having a few ‘credit enquiries’ on your credit file can be enough for an automatic decline, even if you have no defaults. So having a listing marked as paid may not be sufficient to obtain credit in this market” Mr DOESSEL says.

Mr DOESSEL says a reputable credit file repairer would have processes that allow them to access the information without initially alerting the creditors of their intentions. This then allows them to work with the file and having knowledge of current legislation - enable them to actually remove the default.

How do consumers know what type of credit repairer they are dealing with?  Here are ten checks that are necessary to make before giving out any personal information:

1. Check up on ASIC’S ‘fido’ website – they post warnings of the latest scams
2. Check the company is Australian based in Australia
3. Check they publish their street address and verify it
4. Can they be called on a direct phone number?
5. Do they publish their success rate?
6. What are their costs?
7. Are you sure precisely what service you are getting for your money?
8. Do a little research on the principles of the business
9. Does the company allow checks with a third person? Can you call a past client?
10. Does someone recommend them? Finance brokers or past clients?

Mr DOESSEL is in the process of developing a membership based association which would go a long way in controlling and regulating the industry. This would then allow consumers to check with this association before they deal with any credit rating repair firm.

“Hopefully a self-regulating body will allow consumers to feel comfortable to use credit file repairers – sorting the good from the bad in one easy step” he says.

Please contact:

Graham Doessel       http://www.mycra.com.au/

246 Stafford Road, STAFFORD QLD.

Ph: 07 3613 9709       

Business Hours: 9:00am to 5:00pm Monday to Friday (excluding Qld Public Holidays)

Link to Morning Show interview:

http://video.au.msn.com/watch/video/credit-rating/xo3gmhi

                                                            ###

            About MyCRA.com.au

MyCRA.com.au is 100% Australian owned and operated and we are based in Stafford, a northern suburb of Brisbane in Queensland.

My CRA was developed for the sole purpose of giving clients access and ability to work with their Credit File.   This is in order to give them the best chance of getting approval, getting a lower interest rate or just to reduce the upfront fees that can be associated with obtaining credit

We have more than 30 years combined experience in working with and helping clients with their credit files. Not only are we the fastest in getting access to credit files, we are also the fastest known credit file repair agency in Australia. We can often remove judgements in as little as 3 days.  

It’s shocking, but more than 21,917 people per day are reporting known cases of Identity Theft, and that’s only the ones that are discovered and reported..

The scary thing is that most people only find out once the damage (Defaults and judgments from loans they know nothing about) is done.

It’s a funny thing, it even took my wife some time to  fully understand the ramifications of identity theft.

We had a shredder in my home office and more often than not it sat there idle, and documents with identifying information was simply thrown in the bin.

Studies show that if you have been targeted for identity theft, the individuals or gang targeting you will come back to your rubbish bin over and over again until they get all the information they need.

The first time, they might only get, say, a phone bill. The phone bill will have your name, your address, and of course your phone number.

The next time, it might be an electricity bill. This again will have your name, your home address, and your e

lectricity account number.

The next time they might get a credit card bill. The credit card bill will most likely have your credit card number and your customer ID number.

Let’s quickly review what they have so far:

• your name
• your address
• your telephone number
• your electricity account number
• your credit card number
• your credit card customer reference ID

And if you’re unlucky, your telephone bill will give them a list of all the people you like to call.

Do you feel violated yet?

Now they know a little bit about you, and now it’s time to look you up on the Internet. The first three places they will look are:

1. Facebook
2. Youtube
3. MySpace

Let’s look at Facebook.

Because they have your basic details, it’s not hard to do a search on Facebook to see if you are a registered Facebook user.

If they find you there, they can usually see quite quickly where you are from, any relatives, if you or any of your family have used any of the ‘friends’ or ‘family’ or ‘family tree’ type apps, they might get to see other identifying information like your Mums maiden name (which is one of the key ID requests for the banks) or they can get your Date of birth, your first school etc. etc. etc.

Before too long, these people have a full list of all of your identifying information that will allow them to open bank accounts in your name, get a ‘replacement’ copy of your drivers license, get a new medicare card and so much more.

If you have a facebook account, you should now be very scared, especially if you have your date of birth displayed.

So, what are the 7 things to avoid becoming the victim of Identity Theft?

1. Buy a cross cut shredder
2. Shred every bit of information with your details on it.
3. DO NOT put personal Information on social networking sites
4. Do not click on links in emails from ‘banks’ saying you have to log in
5. Always log in to your banks website by typing the address into the web browser.
6. Always insist on Identifying the person on the phone who ‘claims’ to be from the bank
7. Dont leave indentity type documents in your car (cars get broken in to every day)

I know it is scary but with more than $3,000,000,000.00 (Thats 3 Billion) in lost revenue from Identuity theft every year in Australia alone, its too big a risk.

Go and buy a cheap shredder, you can even get hand operated ones from the $2 shops, just get one and never throw out anything that can identify you again.

For more information on coming back from Identity Theft or removing defaults from your credit file, visit www.mycra.com.au/repair or call (Austraila) 07 3613 9709

This has been Graham Doessel and this is my comment