The Free Credit Report Scam

Every consumer in America is entitled to a free credit report once a year by law beginning in September 2005. But since that law was passed, there has been nothing but confusion.

Websites that say they are offering this so-called free credit report ask us to provide them with our credit card information. Sound like a free credit report?

You may even have provided your credit card number to these companies to sign up for a thirty-day trial for a credit service that has almost nothing to do with getting your free credit report.

In fairness, you can cancel this service after thirty days. But how many people do you think forget and end up with monthly or even yearly credit card charges?

In fact, these companies are counting on you to forget about the thirty-day trial and charge that fee to your credit card. But if the law says you get a free report, what is the problem?

Many people are confused about these free credit reports due to the way some companies market the free credit report. Hopefully this information will clarify a few things for you.

For people who just want the bottom line, a free credit report is available at http://www.AnnualCreditReport.com and this is the only official site that helps consumers get their free annual credit report.

The security protocols of this site are excellent with physical and technological security and encryption. That is important for identity theft purposes because the information on your credit report should only be seen by your eyes.

So if this site is available and anyone can get a free credit report once a year, what is the problem? Here’s the catch: The credit report you get from http://www.AnnualCreditReport.com has no credit scores.

Now you may be asking, “So what’s the use of getting this free credit report without a credit score?” There are some good reasons why you may want to check your credit report even without a credit score.

Did you know that more than forty percent of all credit reports have errors? If you spot these mistakes, you can fix them before they affect your credit score. If you contact a credit reporting agency about an error, the law must clear it or remove it after thirty days.

By monitoring and reviewing your credit report, you can verify that you are not a victim of identity theft. If someone takes over your accounts and loads thousands of dollars in debt, they can destroy your credit score in a matter of hours.

These are just some of the good reasons why you want to get your free credit report once a year and inspect it just to make sure everything looks the way it should. You can get your free credit report online at http://www.AnnualCreditReport.com or by phone or mail.

So where do you get your credit score? This is where the confusion comes in and here is the answer. The law passed by Congress says nothing about a credit score, just one free credit report per year per consumer.

You have to pay for a service to get your credit score, and some companies confuse people with how they market it. They offer you a free credit report and score, and many consumers believe this is their free annual credit report.

But if you have to subscribe to a credit service they offer for a 30-day trial period, does that sound free? These companies are counting on you to skip the 30-day trial and charge a fee to your credit card after the trial period ends.

It’s in fine print, but how many people actually read it? So here’s a good common sense rule of thumb. Every time you have to provide your credit card information, ask yourself, “Is this really free?”

Many of you probably know that this is happening because you have been caught with this type of marketing tactic. But for those of you who just want your free annual credit report, you can at least be aware of what’s really going on and have a sensible way to get it.

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