from ftc.gov

Under the terms of a U.S. district court judgment and order announced today, two defendants in an FTC cross-border telemarketing fraud case have been barred from engaging in deceptive marketing in the future and will pay $15,000 for consumer redress. The court action closes the case against Mishele Wells and her company, Simax Corporation, which allegedly targeted U.S. consumers with no credit or poor credit histories with promises of advance-fee credit cards that were never provided. The FTC brought the case in November 2004 as part of a major multi-jurisdictional cross-border fraud law enforcement initiative.

Washington (Reuters) - U.S. consumer credit rose by a bigger-than-expected $10.27 billion in June on a surge in credit card debt, a
Federal Reserve Report on Monday showed.

Analysts polled by Reuters were expecting consumer credit to rise by just $4 billion after increasing by an upwardly revised $5.88 billion in May.

Consumer credit outstanding rose to $2.186 trillion in June, rising at a 5.66 percent annual rate from $2.176 trillion the prior month.

--Credit Card Company Practices Have Helped Create Counseling Crisis--

Washington D.C. – As more Americans seek assistance for serious debt problems, the National Consumer Law Center (NCLC) and Consumer Federation of America (CFA) today unveiled Credit Counseling in Crisis, a report detailing the severe threat to consumers from a new generation of creditcounseling agencies. The comprehensive study found that, unlike the previous generation of mostly creditorfunded counseling services, these new agencies often harm debtors with improper advice, deceptive practices, excessive fees and abuse of their non-profit status. An estimated nine million Americans have some contact with a consumer credit counseling agency each year.

The report also concluded that creditor practices and funding reductions have caused agencies to cut back on educational services and have led more consumers to drop out of counseling and declare bankruptcy. Another key finding was that poor oversight of credit counseling agencies by the Internal Revenue Service and the states has allowed unscrupulous counseling agencies to grow and prosper.