NEW YORK – Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced a major settlement that will refund money to more than 5,000 New Yorkers across the state who were defrauded by a deceptive and harmful debt settlement company. Freedom Debt Relief, one of the country’s largest debt settlement companies, misled debt-saddled consumers about the amount of money they would save and the services it would provide, while reaping large profits in up-front fees. As part of the settlement, Freedom Debt Relief will pay $1.1 million to refund former customers, offer current customers hundreds of thousands of dollars in refunds if they withdraw from the program, and pay $100,000 in penalties to the state. The agreement is available here. The announcement comes as National Consumer Protection Week begins, and the Attorney General reminded New Yorkers that taking legal action against misconduct is just one way to attack fraud and abuse (see below for tips for consumer faced with significant credit ca...