I have been receiving calls from a company referring to themselves as CREDIT HELPER. They refer to my being accepted or rejected for a MC or VISA recently. Then they tell me I have been accepted. I have had two calls in the last week and the person will give his name but the first time we were cut off and today the person was uncomfortable giving me information about yours or their company. Are you familiar with this company and if so can you aid me in securing this information? I don't understand why I get the calls yet when I ask who they are all they tell me is they are with Credit Helper and the phone ID is out of area. Any help you can give me would be appreciated.

We are not familiar with the company.

In general, companies normally don't know that you've been rejected for credit unless they are part of the same company that rejected you. (The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act governs how and with-whom they can share private information, and your rights to opt-out.) It's possible that the caller was just "playing the numbers" and guessing that you were rejected for credit.

Another possibility: Companies can buy lists of people that fall within certain ranges of credit risk, and use them to make pre-approved offers of credit. (If you'd like to opt-out of such lists, call 1-888-5-OPT-OUT)

The evasiveness of the caller would be enough reason not to talk with him any further. Due to the risk of identity theft, you should never give out any private information, such as social security number or credit card number unless you know the company, and it was YOU who made the call to THEM.

If the caller was from a so-called "credit repair" company, that can be trouble too. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has issued many warnings about credit repair companies.

3:13:28 PM