Predatory scammers are hard at work, falsely claiming to have an inside track to getting help from the National Mortgage Settlement. They are working the phones and the Internet, trying to entice desperate people to pay money in exchange for mortgage relief.

DON’T BE A VICTIM. The Virginia Poverty Law Center advises you to ignore anyone who calls or emails you with offers to help you get mortgage settlement money. Do not talk to them, even if they seem to have details about your situation. Do not pay them money for mortgage relief services. Don’t give them personal information.

If you are eligible for benefits from the National Mortgage Settlement, you should receive a claim form in the mail from the settlement administrator. This should be sent in the next six to nine months. You will not have to pay money to get your benefit.

If you have moved and want to make sure the administrator can contact you, send a form, available at http://tinyurl.com/7ng2e4g, to the Virginia Attorney General’s Office, which will forward the information to the settlement administrator.

If you want to verify that a communication is legitimate, contact your mortgage servicer. See http://tinyurl.com/6vjpz87 for contact information for servicers that are covered by the agreement.

For more details on how the settlement will work and who is eligible, see the Center for Responsible Lending’s publication, Are You Eligible for Mortgage Relief?, at http://tinyurl.com/74pyqa9.

You may be eligible for help from the settlement if:

• you lost your home to foreclosure between 2008 and 2011;
•  your payments are current, but your house is worth less than the amount you owe; or
•  you are behind or at risk of falling behind on your mortgage payments.