The FTC has filed suit against a number of credit repair groups for violation of the Credit Repair Organization Act. You know the usual suspects…you see their ads on the Internet, on TV and in your inbox as spam. Beware of those promises to erase bankruptcy and magically raise your credit score.

Unfortunately, under current law, these scamsters are only subject to a slap on the wrist. There's no possibility of jail time for what they do. So they go away when reprimanded and then set up shop under a different name.

There is no magic wand for credit repair. You fix your credit by paying your bills on time. It really is that simple. Some 35% of your credit score reflects your timely payments each month, while another 30% has to do with reducing the amount of debt you owe vs. your line of available credit. That's a combined 65% right there.

Meanwhile, the FTC recently poked fun at the FreeCreditReport people with a spoof ad available at FTC.gov. As always, Clark wants to remind you that AnnualCreditReport.com is the only legitimate site to get your free credit reports once per year.

In fact, Clark has a new mantra he'd like you to repeat: FreeCreditReport is NOT free, FreeCreditReport is NOT free, FreeCreditReport is NOT free!

Lastly, Quizzle.com, CreditKarma.com and Credit.com all offer free credit scores. (Editor's note: The scores offered by these 3 services are not the official FICO score, but rather an approximation of it.)