Debt “Helpers” Keep Ripping People Off

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Regulators are increasingly investigating debt settlement companies -- "We'll cut what you owe by three-quarters! It's easy!" -- for what frustrated customers have long known: it's often a rip-off. Today, New York attorney general Andrew Cuomo blocked Nationwide Asset Services from doing business in the state, also fining the company nearly $200,000 for defrauding some 1,981 New Yorkers who looked to the company to negotiate reductions in th