Unfortunately, credit cards for people with bad credit aren't always easy to come by. In fact, the scams seem to outweigh the legitimate credit card opportunities. Does that mean that credit-challenged individuals are destined to roam cardless for eternity? Absolutely not. You just need to follow some sound advice...

There's No Pie in the Sky

First and foremost, understand your limitations and realize there is no pie in the sky -- no matter what someone tries to tell you. If you have credit problems, you're not going to get a $10,000 credit limit at an interest rate of 9 percent just because you send someone $150 to process your application. What you're going to get is a smack in the forehead when you realize that you've fallen for a scam.

Yes, there are credit cards for people with bad credit, but they're going to have smaller limits and higher interest rates and probably even an annual fee. Anything that sounds too good to be true probably is -- and you'll do well to remember it.

Compare Your Options Carefully

Now, as for the legitimate credit cards for people with bad credit, they do vary widely from one to the other. Some bad credit credit cards offer reasonable annual fees, decent interest rates and even some added perks. Others charge somewhat ridiculous fees, higher percentage rates and no perks whatsoever. Apply for the better ones first.

Some companies, like Capital One, offer low-limit cards to people with credit challenges, but you still get all of the Capital One perks like great customer service, low rates, low annual fees and free online account management and bill payment services.

Other companies, however, charge processing fees, high annual fees, application fees, high interest rates and one company even charges almost $8 every time you make an online payment. If this is the only type of card you can qualify for, you might be better off going with a secured card and working your way up to a card like the one Capital One offers.

Just because you have bad credit doesn't mean you should be abused by bad credit credit cards that charge ridiculous fees and you should never have to pay a credit card company to make a payment to them online. Remember, not all credit cards for people with bad credit card created equal and you need to carefully compare each and every one of the fees charged to make sure you're getting the cards that's right for you.