Quick Answer: Debt180.ca displays multiple red flags including fake government endorsements using Premier Christy Clark’s image, no physical office address listed, and operating as a lead generation site rather than an actual debt relief company. The website’s registered address traces to a residential house in Langley, BC, raising serious questions about legitimacy.
Remember those days in the good old USA when we had all those ads promoting debt reduction services using President Obama’s picture? Now that the advanced fee services have been exported across the border to Canada it looks like the marketing ploy to use leaders and bogus messages went with it. See the ad below.
One Canadian reader reported seeing the advertisement above online and sent in a tip that the picture is that of Christy Clark, the Premier of British Columbia. And of course, there is no program to force banks to accept less, unless we are talking about bankruptcy.
The tipster (send in your tips here) also reported the ad links to a company debt180.ca at 888-293-5102. You will notice this Canadian oriented website contains messages that used to be rampant in the U.S.
Every weekday I read the enforcement actions, filings and fine print the outlets skip, and turn them into the one or two moves that actually improve your position — a rate worth moving for, a fee you can refuse, a deadline to beat before it costs you.
I write Your Money Actually most weekdays — actionable money information you will not find anywhere else, and the small decisions that compound. It is free, I sell nothing, and I take no money from any company I write about.
The website had a number of disturbing red flags for me.
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They do not list any physical contact information. The “Contact Us” link is for an email address only. It’s not until you get to the bottom of the privacy policy that you can find an address for the company.
Debt180.ca, 0910385 B.C. LTD
7304 196 A St
Langley, BC
V2Y 3C5
That address is apparently for this house and not the location of a thriving debt settlement company with throngs of busy workers. So it leaves me wondering, how are the listed testimonials true?
Apparently the debt180.ca website is a lead generation site that collects the information of unsuspecting consumers that believe they may be applying for debt relief help directly with the website and then have their information sold on.
As one page on their website says:
Debt180.ca collects personal information, referred to as Leads, and sells that information to companies that offer debt solution opportunities to individuals.
The site sells the leads for $75 CAD plus taxes. – Source
The site was first registered on January 16, 2012 and is apparently being served up from a U.S. based web server with Godaddy in Arizona.
So as far as I’m concerned, consumers should stay away from Debt180.ca.
Before You Sign Anything: Run any debt relief contract through the free Contract Decoder to spot hidden fees and unfair terms. Check the company’s complaint history with the Scam-O-Meter.
Compare Your Real Options: Most debt relief companies won’t tell you about all your options — especially the ones they can’t profit from. Credit counseling has a 21-27% completion rate. Settlement resolves about 1% of enrolled debts fully. Bankruptcy has a 95% discharge rate — and protects your retirement. Take the Find Your Path quiz for a recommendation based on your actual numbers.
debt180.ca is a legitimate site – please only use facts. Likewise debtleads.ca and debtadvisors.co.uk – all fully compliant and regulated by official bodies like FCA in UK. Please concentrate your efforts on helping people who have debt problems and not chasing companies you incorrectly think are not legitimate. At the end of the day, the customer is the most important person in theprocess and they’ve suffered enough a the hands of lenders. Most of whom have devious intentions. Thank you.
What does debtadvisors.co.uk have to do with an article from 2012?
Thank you for this article. I came upon this google ad and wanted to know the truth. I’m glad you’ve done your work in exposing them. If its too good to be true then it must be.
The previous poster was correct about “Get out of debt guy” collecting money from the same companies he villainizes. He’s using Google’s Adsense program to accept money from the very same advertisers he’s complaining about. And, despite what another poster mentioned, it’s actually very easy to block specific advertisers from appearing on his site (and I’m sure he knows it).
This page took me all of 10 seconds to find: http://support.google.com/adsense/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=164657 Hypocritical?
Took me two seconds to find the site terms that addresses this at length. See https://getoutofdebt.org/terms/
The fact is steve you can go to google and stop the ads. You choose not to because your site will not generate as much money. If you were a truly out to help you would have no ads for debt settlement , ccc, bk, or any other product you talk about.
I have extensive dealings with adwords and you can block the ads so stop with the you have no control stuff.
I agree, adwords can be blocked, but I cover that in depth in the site terms. https://getoutofdebt.org/terms/
This case is a good example of the issue. I’ve never seen the ad on the site. I have no idea how many people have and it is most likely only going to be shown to people from Canada or people that have visited that site.
If you don’t like the ad, don’t click on it. If you object to the fact ads are on the site, please don’t visit the site.
Thank you Steve!
uhh, hello ‘get out of debt guy’…you do realize that you are displaying advertising for the same lead generator firms that you’re warning people about? I see ads for debtcare.ca and debt180.ca all over this site? You talk about what they’re doing being disturbing (which is correct), but you’re letting them advertise on your site??? You’re getting paid by them!!
You may want to re-consider advise from this guy people. He’ll expose a ‘disturbing’ business but at the same time take their money for advertising!!
I guess when it comes to getting paid morals and integrity don’t matter…
What a joke…
You should file a formal complaint with Google. That’s what I did. They are the ones who approved these ads and allow them to be shown on hundreds of sites. I’ll bet Steve hasn’t even seen them on is site. Come to think of it. How could he? Google is displaying these ads to Canadians not Americans (based on your IP address). It is probably impossible for Steve to see the same ads that we Canadians do.
This is covered in the site terms you agree to by using the site. See https://getoutofdebt.org/terms/
I’ve seen these ads on a number of sites. They are so clearly deceptive and misleading that it really makes you wonder where these kinds of companies will stop.