Some "debt relief" firms will leave you even deeper in the hole.

First, the bad players charge big upfront fees. Then they ask customers to stop paying creditors and to instead pay them directly -- promising to disburse the money after negotiating a payment plan. Guess what? Some firms just keep all the money.

A woman from New York filed a complaint last year saying she sent a firm $5,320 to disburse -- and then discovered the company hadn't even contacted her creditors. So her nightmare got even worse: She was still in debt. Her credit was likely ruined because she stopped making payments. And she was out $5,320.