During the past few years, millions of employees have either lost their jobs through layoffs or had their weekly hours drastically cut back. The consequence has resulted in a large percentage of the U.S. public going deep into debt. Getting yourself out of debt can be an almost impossibly difficult feat once you have lost your job.

The difficulty is emphasized by the fact that over 800,000 families filed for bankruptcy in 2007 with the preliminary figures looking even bleaker for 2008. Finding themselves in a deep hole and no easy way to dig themselves out is why many people finally turn to a debt cosolidation professional as a solution to their problems.

Before you sign with a debt consolidation company however, you should be aware of the many rip off schemes that some of the more unethical companies attempt. The most egregious of these schemes is the debt consolidation company that takes your money and never pays your creditors. They simply take your money and run. These companies realize that most people will be so desperate in looking for a lifeline, that they won’t bother to check out the company that they’re involving themselves with.

This is especially true in the age of the Internet where all it takes to start a debt consolidation company is a business looking website with some official looking contact information. In most cases like this, it’s also futile to file a lawsuit as they will either be off shore and out of the law’s reach or the scammers will have left their “shell company” and departed for parts unknown.