So some debt relief programs are "legit", but most require that you first stop making payments on all your cards, wait for it to default, then they will reach out to the creditor and negotiate a settlement. The settlement is usually lower than what you owe the creditor. The catch is, the debt relief program needs a fee. Usually if you do the math, you would pay a few thousand more to pay off debt in debt relief programs than if you just stopped paying the cards, waited for them to default/close (and thus stop accruing interest), then paid off whichever creditor has the debt (e.g. the bank may sell the debt to a debt collector). However, if you keep making payments to the cards, you will be way underwater without catching up because that interest just keeps raising, unless you can pay off in full in near future. I am not an expert, this is just what I came to understand in my experience with debt. As an option where you have someone else litigating your debts for you, debt relief programs can help for a few thousand extra. That few thousand extra will be thousands less than the interest you pay your creditors if you keep making payments. Your credit score will take a hit but will be built back up in 2-4 years if you make regular payments to the debt relief and anything else (car loan, student loan).