LAKEMORE, Ohio — Household debt in the U.S. is at an all-time high, reaching more than $18 trillion in the first quarter of 2025, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York.
If you're one of the millions of Americans struggling to pay off your debt, you might consider debt relief programs. However, not all of those programs are actually helpful.
Debt relief scams are one of the top scams reported to the Better Business Bureau.
Good Morning Cleveland anchor Mike Brookbank spoke with a Northeast Ohio woman about what happened after she was contacted by a supposed company offering to pay off her credit cards.
Cheryl Anderson said she received a phone call from a number with a New York area code. The caller claimed they were with a card member services representative.
"They had the credit card number, they had the balance that was due on it, and they even knew how much I paid last month," said Anderson. "When they asked for the the code and my expiration date, I thought it was really Chase Bank."
Anderson didn't give up that information, but the caller said they had other credit card information belonging to her. Anderson was then offered a deal from a company called "Quantum Financial USA."
"So they said that they would have a debt relief program and that I would not be responsible for paying the debt on these credit cards," said Anderson.
Anderson said she was told she'd need to pay more than $13,000 to start the program.
"They were going to charge it to one of the credit cards and to Sam's Club. I found out after the fact that Sam's Club had denied that charge," said Anderson. "Then they would apply for a Discover Card for me so that I have access to some money if I needed to go to the store or whatever."
Anderson later learned that Discover denied the attempt to open an account.
Becoming suspicious, Anderson called her son, who told her she was being scammed. Anderson confirmed that after searching online about what happened to her.
"Cheryl was extremely smart and taking her time to research something didn't feel right," said Shannon Siegferth, President and CEO of the Better Business Bureau of Akron. "She took that time to make that phone call and call somebody that she trusted, in this case her son."
Siegferth said Anderson's information could have been stolen from various outlets.
"It's extremely important to be vigilant on what you see online, on who you're giving your information to and what exactly you're giving them," said Siegferth.
Anderson didn't lose any money, but she is raising awareness to prevent others from falling victim to scams like this.
"I would just write down the information without giving them any information and then make your own phone calls and then find out if it is, in fact, real or a scam," said Anderson.
