The banking department has referred information obtained on American Financial Services to the Connecticut Attorney General's Office which has been actively cracking down on credit-fixing fraud. Burke said consumers should be able to easily access their credit records, interpret them and correct any mistakes without paying some company to do so. Credit repair firms are not only unnecessary but, in most cases, are downright scams. Consumer credit officials at the banking department say it pays for consumers to review their credit report annually, making sure that inactive or closed accounts are marked as such, and to check to see that data on people with similar names has not been erroneously filed. For people with credit and debt problems who need honest help, the place to turn may be a licensed credit counseling service , whose function is to help consumers manage debts.
Credit counseling focuses on repaying or restructuring debts and improving payment habits.
To create a new identity is fraud, and the Internal Revenue Service will strictly prosecute such crimes. Consumers who need advice on how to correct inaccuracies on their credit reports or who wish to report companies that may be conducting questionable credit repair business should contact the Connecticut Department of Banking's Consumer Credit Division .