Sandy sent me a mailer she received in a plain envelope. She said, “This is a very scary scam, especially for seniors like me, overburdened with credit cards trying to pay medical bills and very vulnerable. So thanks for anything you can do to make people aware of these scams.”
The mailer appears to be an offer for debt settlement using what masquerades as some sort of official debt relief program called the COVID-19 Credit Card Account Settlement Program.
In my opinion, the letter gives the impression that named creditors are already signed on with the program.
Let me be clear, there is no government program for COVID-19 SNF Relief. This is a marketing effort to get you to call a number and be sold some debt relief programs.
The fine print is hard to read but it does say:
“With the implementation of the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act of 2009, the following creditors have adjusted their lending policies: JP Morgan, Chase, Bank of America, American Express, Capital One, HSBC, GE Money, Target, Wells Fargo, and many more.”
Please feel free to read the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act of 2009 and show me where anything in the Act has anything to do with a coronavirus debt settlement program. The Act applies primarily to all creditors engaged in the extension of certain types of credit but is targeted “…to establish fair and transparent practices relating to the extension of credit under an open end consumer credit plan, and for other purposes.”
“Consumer may be referred to a Non-Profit or For-Profit Debt Relief Agency upon detailed analysis of current financial state. These are not government endorsed or sponsored programs, nor affiliated with any governmental agency.”
Ah, so this is actually a marketing piece to generate leads for nonprofit and for-profit debt relief companies. Got it. And in spite of any impression the reader might have from the letter, this has nothing to do with any government program.
“Annual percentage rates as low as zero to nine percent This offer is not associated with bankruptcy, debt consolidation loan; it has been specifically designed to assist consumers with financial education, consumer benefits, reducing interest rates and payments on outstanding credit card debt and reducing total monthly obligations.”
How can there be interest rates if the unidentified sender is not associated with loans? And does anyone actually believe this mailer has anything to do with financial education?
I would advise anyone that receives this notice to check out the company they are connected with by using one of my guides below.
Getting that mail today. Usually when it has some 5 yrs imprisonment for tampering with mail thing on it. its a scam.
Sent in mailer
Posted.