Got a call yesterday from U.S. Processing Solutions out of Huntington Beach, California. They very kindly offered to "help" me with my school loans. The cost would be $199.00 x3 months followed by $39.00 per month for 239 months on an outstanding $30,000 loan. I could tell the woman I was speaking to was calling from a boiler room as there were other similar conversations going on in the background. I told her that I knew her service was a scam based on the fact that everything she said she could do for me I could do for myself and for free. When I told her she should try to get an honest job, she took umbrage and informed me that she and other people she works with "laugh" when a potential client makes that suggestion. I'll bet they do.
Moral of the story: Take it slow and methodical, ask a lot of questions. Don't be desperate. Predators sense desperation and always go for the kill. You've already been wronged and these pricks are more than happy to go for the head shot not once but over and over again.