Are the offers for a “free credit report” a scam? You’ve probably seen those catchy ads offering free credit reports, and it sounds like a good idea: why wouldn’t someone want to check their own credit for free?
Well, as usual, there is a catch.
We are bombarded with news stories about identity theft, and these ads play into the fear generated by these stories. Identity theft is indeed a very real threat. Given the fact that many people don’t even know what their credit score is, thieves can often damage someone’s financial credit history undetected. The victims might not even know until they actually apply for credit themselves.
Companies have rushed in to offer lots of protective services, from credit monitoring services to identity theft insurance. And that’s what’s actually being offered in those commercials, protection and monitoring services. Usually, the offer is a “free credit report” when you sign up for one of their credit monitoring services, charged monthly.
Thus, if the service is $10 a month, that one-time “free” credit report actually costs $120 a year.
Not that credit monitoring services are bad, in fact, I use one from MyFICO.com myself. But the issue here is that people are lured in to essentially paying for a credit report. In fact, some of these services are being investigated by various state and federal agencies over their tactics.
And that’s because of the real catch: you can get your own credit report, for free, once a year, on your own. So if you are not interested in paying for an ongoing credit monitoring service, don’t despair. The credit bureaus are required to provide you with this report once per year for free. The ONLY PLACE to get your REALLY FREE credit report is annualcreditreport.com.
Want more information about managing your credit? Check out the Credit Secrets Bible.
March 12, 2009 at 4:58 pm |
I signed up to check my credit report. I found out I had 7 days to cancel before I was charged on a monthly basis. I immediately called to cancel the account. After saying several times and very firmly: “Cancel my account, please”, the operator on the phone said the account was canceled and I would not be charged.
A few months go by, I was charged 4 times! I went through all these hoops to get my FULL refund of $59.80. I know it doesn’t seem much but I CANCELED my account! I finally got my FULL refund.
I have my whole story here and well as email, phone, and fax information to getting a refund:
http://ootie.blogspot.com/2009/03/freecreditreportcom-is-scam.html
March 12, 2009 at 5:05 pm |
That’s good info, and it really illustrates the point here. A lot of people aren’t as aware as you were and get charged without even realizing it.