When you are in a financial crunch worrying about how to pay the mortgage, college tuition, credit cards and other bills, even the most dubious offers to ease your debt load can sound appealing.

That helps to explain why so many consumers willingly agree to pay hefty fees to debt-settlement companies that promise to erase their debts for about a third of what they owe.

Few people realize that they can do a lot of this stuff themselves without padding the pockets of debt collectors, said Curtis Arnold, director of CardRatings.com.

Apparently, even fewer people realize that many of these offers are outright scams.

There have been a number of reports detailing the perils of such agreements.

Earlier this month, the Federal Trade Commission charged four companies with deceptively marketing a debt-settlement operation that allegedly failed to provide services to reduce consumers' debt. According to the FTC, the companies offered debt-relief programs through the Web sites idebthelp.com, moneycares.com, edgesolutions.com, and ontrackmpower.com.

In many cases, the consumer ended up owing more money from additional late charges and legal fees. Some had their wages garnished or had to deal with other collection-agency action because the company never contacted the creditors.

There are safer and surer ways of dealing with your debt.

One is calling the creditor directly. Today they are more willing than ever to work with you, Arnold said, adding that credit-card companies' outreach to members now is unprecedented. Some of them are even creating repayment plans.

If you choose to contact your credit companies directly, you should do a couple of things, said Chris Viale, president and chief executive of Cambridge Credit Counseling Corp., a nonprofit group in Agawam, Mass.

Get any agreements in writing — including lower interest rates, waived fees or lower minimum payments. You should also ask how the agreement will affect how your account will be reported to the credit bureau. If the company tells you there will be no adverse affect on your credit report, get that in writing, too.

If you feel you need financial counseling, seek a nonprofit counseling group that offers free services. To learn more about how to choose a credit counselor, go to the Federal Trade Commission's Web site on this issue: www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre26.shtm.

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