Until the phone call, Rossie Anderson-Howze didn't think she needed help negotiating her $12,000 in credit card debt. But when the company promised to cut the retiree's 12.9 percent interest rate and save her $4,000 or her money back, she agreed to let Moneyworks LLC charge $1,090 to her card.

The company failed to deliver on its promises, she said, forcing Anderson-Howze, of St. Paul, to become one of hundreds of Minnesota consumers to seek help from Minnesota Attorney General Lori Swanson.

Swanson sued Moneyworks LLC and two other debt assistance companies on Tuesday, alleging that the companies made unsolicited phone calls promising lowered interest rates, guaranteed savings and money-back guarantees. Swanson alleges that Washington-based Priority Direct Marketing, Clear Financial Solutions of Florida and Moneyworks LLC, based in Georgia, "charged financially strapped people a lot of money to lower the interest rates on their credit cards, only they failed to do so, leaving people even further behind on their bills."

Attempts to reach all three companies were unsuccessful.

The calls promising lowered interest rates come at a time when credit card companies have been raising rates, even for consumers with stellar credit. Swanson said debt assistance is just the latest "cottage industry" that's formed to "capitalize on the bad economy." Attorneys general around the country, including Swanson, have sued mortgage foreclosure consultants and health care credit card companies since the recession took hold.

Swanson hopes the lawsuit will shine a spotlight on these companies and help locate the individuals behind them. No principals have been identified yet in these cases, but Swanson suspects that a few people are behind many of the "fly-by-night" debt assistance companies. Swanson said Moneyworks LLC and Clear Financial Solutions already have stopped answering some of their phone lines.