For some Canadian credit card holders, dreams do come true. J.P. Morgan Chase Bank has decided to forgive the outstanding debt of its credit card holders there, according to a spokeswoman for the firm. That includes the Amazon.ca Rewards Visa and the Marriott Rewards Premier Visa branded cards.

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The U.S. bank decided to exit the Canadian credit card market last year. The affected accounts were closed by March 2018. Now, to complete the departure, the bank said it is also wiping out any outstanding balances. Chase declined to discuss the reasons behind the move, or the amount of debt they were writing off. "I haven't seen this happen before," said Matt Schulz, chief industry analyst at CompareCards. The company may have decided that just forgiving the debt was an easier, cleaner and faster way to be done with the cards rather than selling the debts to a third party, he said. Still, if you're one of the credit card holders affected, you should take some deliberate steps.

Double-check any notification you receive

Start with calling the bank to make sure any notice you receive is real. "There's so many scams out there," Schulz said. "It's hard to tell a legitimate email from a phishing email or fake email." Fraudsters will use unusual situations like this to take money from unsuspecting people, he said. If you live in the U.S. and you receive a call notifying you that your credit card balance has been forgiven, you also should be on high alert. "You're probably being scammed," Schulz said. Don't share any personal information via phone or email, and contact your bank to verify whether an offer is valid.

Keep documentation of debt forgiveness