I agreed to an account and then realized I was scammed. If I just refuse to pay, can they ruin my credit?

Remember everyone’s job at this company is to scam you into an account and then do whatever is necessary to keep it open (as these "insider" magazine telemarketing scheme details show). While the threat of “ruining your credit” is a powerful tool and certainly a possibility, it is most likely they will not follow a legitimate business’ course of action by reporting you to the credit bureaus and turning your account over to an independent collection agency.

Do not be fooled into thinking that just cancelling your credit card or closing your bank account and refusing to pay will make them forget about you though. I have no doubt your account would be turned over to their internal collections department (quite possibly in the next cubicle). It will then become their job to harass you indefinitely or trick you into even another account!

The Fair Debt Collection Practices Act applies to third party collection agencies (or may apply to in-house collections that misrepresent themselves) and imposes certain restrictions against their conduct. Questions and answers about the FDCPA can be found here.

While it is possible that you may not be able to get out of the “legally binding contract” that you have made, remember you also have a “powerful tool” … Scam companies absolutely prefer to avoid the official investigations that can come with being reported to the Federal Trade Commission and Attorneys General. If you feel a company's business practices are fraudulent report them (and tell them so). Additional complaint submission links are in the sidebar. Don’t just refuse to pay; deal with them now. Specific suggestions for attempting to resolve your dispute can be found here.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies — Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion — to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your request, once every 12 months. Regular monitoring allows you verify the accuracy and completeness of the information in your credit report(s), and staggering your requests from each of the three of the nationwide consumer reporting companies during a 12-month period may be a good way to handle it. There is only one place to obtain a truly free credit report www.annualcreditreport.com. (Do not be fooled by any of the companies offering one free report followed with charges for intermittent monitoring services.)   Questions and answers from the Federal Trade Commission about your free credit report can be found here.

Thanks for visiting theNRSscam blog. Hope something here is helpful.
Good luck to all of us!! D/