What everyone has also forgotten to tell the public, is that when they do order their free credit report - the one thing they so desparately want to know is missing from the report - their Credit score!

This is a very valuable article.
Thank you

There's so much more that needs to be communicated to the public about credit scores, reports, and credit reporting agencies, but the one above and beyond where a consumer really needs to go to obtain the federally proscribed annual credit reports is the fact that the credit reporting agencies are allowed to charge consumers anything in the first place. What sense does it make to have to pay a credit reporting agency to tell you information about yourself that their network and system of data sources have not verified or corroborated, and that they and their client companies created in the first place? Is not the fox guarding the hen house? Credit grantors - banks, stores, credit card companies, etc., pay and support the credit reporting companies, and they also provide all the information, except for some public record information. The credit reporting agencies exist because of these merchant companies, not because of consumers. Yet, when errors are made, and errors are on essentially everyone's credit reports, the consumer is asked to pay for "monitoring" and for copies of their personal information. The only exceptions, one free copy per year and a free copy if you are denied credit, are unemployed, or are a victim of identity theft, are often inadequate. A credit report should be free at anytime if a merchant or organization places any item on a report that is determined to be erroneous and is corrected or deleted. The burden should be on the merchant, just as how a credit card dispute, or "chargeback," is handled. If the consumer is determined to be correct, then the fee for the credit report should be either credited back to the consumer or even better, the merchant or organization that placed the incorrect information onto the credit report should be charged for the cost of three new credit reports for the harmed consumer over the next 12 months. A consumer paying for "watch" services, except in very rare circumstances, is wasting money. Monitoring creates a very false sense of security. It is only after the damage has been done to your credit that you are advised of a potential problem, and that is plainly too late to avoid harmful repercussions. There is little difference between finding out someone has adversely affected your credit within two weeks of the event or two months of the event, and you will find out one way or another without a monitoring service. The length of time, the money you will have to spend, and the effort required to correct the errors will still be the same. Additionally, most of what consumers are truly concerned about, identity theft, is often no longer going to be learned through a credit report. Some plainly will, such as the opening of accounts using a good person's existing credit information and name, but that leaves millions of cases where people simply use someone's Social Security number, but another name. This is now the more common form of "identity theft," and it will NOT appear on a consumer credit report. The credit reporting agencies will keep a separate file, and not send it to a consumer, even if that consumer is paying for a monitoring or "watch" service. Thus, another person can be using your Social Security number, opening up bank accounts, leading a fairly normal life, but you will not be advised. If you are a true victim of identity theft and learn about it, the credit reporting agencies must give you a free credit report and must assist you. They have special departments set-up just to assist consumers who may have had their identities compromised, but they still will not tell you if someone else is using your Social Security Number! All of these realities make the payments made by consumers to credit reporting agencies unnecessary. However, some people will always believe that they are getting something for their money and that an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Sadly, their money does not go to prevention in any way, as a monitoring service will only tell you after the fact that you may have been harmed. There is no legal penalty to prevent companies or organizations from placing erroneous items onto consumer credit reports as long as when found and disputed, they are removed. That process is done without a charge to consumers, and consumers should never pay a credit reporting agency. Someday, I hope consumers realize this and continue to learn more about the backwards system that affects their lives and their reputations.

I Was Riped off by free credit report. com.
They lied, they ought to be prosecuted.

I have been a member of the Experian Credit monitoring service for a couple of years now. I knew of the price before the free one was offered. I do not remember how clear it was stated, but I am one that reads all the fine print before signing up for things. How could you not read the fine print these days... you are asking to be taken if you don't take the time to READ!

Hi,

Thank you for bring up this scam. I almost fell for it myself once. I am sure a lot of consumers do.

Yours,
JB
(-:

I fell for FreeCreditReport.com and signed up for the "free" trial and then promptly forgot about it. However once I notice on my monthly statement that I was billed $12.95 I immediately called the company. After talking to the customer service rep I received a refund to my account within 10 days. So even though I was tricked, I was able to recover the money.

This report is TRUE. There is no FREE credit report and this company should be sued for false advertising.

Well that worked well. I went through all the steps of setting up an account with TransUnion, one of the three credit unions listed on AnnualCreditReport.com, only to be told I couldn't get my credit report online due to security reasons. Maybe that's because I wouldn't order their product and told them I didn't want their newletter?

How do you contact these people to be certain you have not been enrolled for the monthly fees? How can you cancel if you have been erroneously enrolled due to the misreprentation of the free report?

THANK YOU!!!!! THESE THEIVES GOT US FOR OVER $200 BEFORE WE REALIZED THAT THEY WERE DEDUCTING $12.99 A MONTH FROM OUR CHECKING ACCOUNT FOR OVER A YEAR....WE LOOKED AT OUR CRTEDIT REPORT ONCE AND ONLY ONCE AND WERE TOLD THAT THEY WOULD ONLY REIMBURSE US FOR 2 MONTHS OF FEES......IT'S ABOUT TIME THIS SCAM HAS BEEN CALLED OUT!

I also fell for this, but they did say if you cancelled within 30 days you would not be charged. I cancelled minutes after receiving my report and was still charged.

Where can you get a free credit report in Canada??

Working for a financial institution, we see people all the time who fell for the "freecreditreport.com" website.

In an effort to better help our consumers, we began giving them the correct website after bringing it to their attention that they were using the pay site.

Just for the record, if you signed up at freecreditreport.com, it usually shows up on your bank/credit card statement as a signature based withdrawal transaction called "CIC Triple Advantage."

when i see the word "FREE" it should mean just that. no postage fee, prep, handling, nothing! FREE means no charge.

FINALLY! A story about this rip-off! Thank you so much. I've been trying to tell customers about this for a long time! Thank you! Please let me know if I can print this page and give out this information, as not everyone (gasp) uses the internet. Thank you!

You need to checkout HomeValues.com. I've tried using this site several times to obtian a "Free" report on how much my home is worth. All I've ever gotten was a lenghty questionnaire and a number of unwanted calls from Real Estate agents who'd be happy to help me sell my home. They need to come out and say that this site is an electronic lead generation system and doesn't provide any useful information to you.

Sounds a lot like free government grants scam that floods the internet

Good job. I hope your article makes a difference.
Once victimized, just try and un-subscribe! Shame on Experian for stooping so low. Double shame on the FTC for letting them get away with it.

Great article but it could have gone further. It's no surprise Experian is behind the scenes. Because of sites like FCR.com the world is now engrained that without a perfect "score" you are dirt when in actuality (and in most cases) it's your "purchasing power" that makes a difference in your ability to borrow money. Just another set of bunk set forward by the banksters and those that swarm around them!

Very good and timely article, I had noted this TV ad the other day. I recently received a "free" credit report as described and immediately noted the monthly fee involved...thankfully upon research I discovered that someone had intercepted a credit card offer in my name, activated an account, and authorized this service, charged to the card! The balance on the fraud account was already approaching several thousand dollars......all billed to an apartment address I occupied previously.

So I suppose some good came along with the bad.....it was obvious, as I have NO active credit card accounts currently...no debt either. A good feeling!

So watch out for those "free" offers folks........

I almost fell for this over the summer. I signed up and assumed it was a free site ran by Experian, one of the big 3 credit data centers. While I did get a free credit report from Experian, and credit monitoring for a week or so, the experience cancelling the service showed me what a scam it really is. You have to call, then listen to someone in a call-center - somewhere else in the world - forever to cancel. You can't interuppt him or he snaps at you! Then finally he asks a trick question that if you answer in any way but "Cancel my service, I do not want it" he will not cancel it for you, thank you quickly and hang up. A Yes or a No is not good enough and too vague of a response for the questioning.

The credit report was incomplete, btw. I did the annualcreditreport.com and found a few enteries that did not show up on Experian. As a review of annualcreditreport.com, all I have to say it is a real pain. While it touts instant free credit reports, you have to jump though hoops, send in ID's, get asked secret questions about your address 15 years earlier...I complained enough that Transunion sent me my credit report in the mail, but Equifax has yet too.

A lot of those magazine services that offer 5 or so magazine subscriptions for a reduced price for 5 years seen very unethical to me. My husband signed up for one that was offered through his credit card company and then another magazine company got his name and started calling and asking which magazines he wanted pretending to be the company he was already signed up with. They did not send any letter of confirmation that we had signed up for the new service until the 30 day cancelation period was up and then they would not let us cancel. Now we are stuck with an additional service for the next few years that we don't even want and we have to pay tons of money for. Plus other companies keep calling and trying to do the same thing and the companies we are already with keep trying to scam us into accidently signing up for more years of continued service. How can this be legal?

Thanks for the story Bob. I have been grinding my teeth every time that misleading ad comes on. Its indicative of what the daily life of American consumers has become; they must play dodgeball with the barrage of money grubbing underhanded big nameliars in business today who want nothing but to take a bite out of you. Young people today are screwed by the combination of credit cards and store cards designed to trap them and the assinine credit scoring game. They don't have a chance. Their only salvation is to get severely nailed, have a born again experience and swear off credit for the rest of their lives. Quite frankly, the whole thing is un-American and needs to be stopped. Example: Finance income through their outsourced bank has become more important to JC Penny than store sales. After 25 years with them, my account is closed and I won't enter their store.

PS I'd like to tell you about American Express' billing practices i.e. due dates. Where can I write?

I am fully aware of my annual free report but 1 report every year does not do anybody any good. For three years I have paid Experian an annual fee for unlimited access to my report. When my Identity was stolen I used this information to halt it in it's tracks and continue to monitor it. No money out of my pocket from the stolen Identity but the red tape cost me 6 months of effort to clear this up. I put all that blame on the credit bureaus and credit card companies who make it an effort to do as much as possible to do as little as possible. I do not agree with the tactics described but the service provided is invaluable.

Thank you for doing a story on this site. I am a fairly credit savvy consumer and do my homework very well before falling for deals like this. However, even I was misled by this site when trying to obtain our free annual credit report this year. This disclaimer must be very small, because I don't remember reading it and I ALWAYS read the fine print.

I had obtained my credit report from them several years ago and found another person with my name but a different address (one I never lived at) listed on it. I wrote to them several times and it is still there! I hope this other person has good credit!

Well this is a great start to inform the public about some of the greatest false advertising scams ever. But, that should not end here. Some kind of bill needs to be passed to allow a person to check there credit at any time, because most of credit theft goes unseen untill something obviuos appears somewhere. Consumers have the right to see what is happining to their credit at any time of the day.

Thanks for pointing out the difference in the two sites. I understand that I am entitled to a free credit REPORT, but is there any indication I am entitled to a free credit SCORE? Or are they one-and-the-same?

Experian was able to steal my identity (Visa bank card number) and withdraw funds from the account without my knowledge. Bank customers using above so-called free credit report service should carefully check their monthly bank statements for this reason. After filing a complaint with Wachovia and Experian, I only received a partial refund of monies "stolen" from my account. To me Experian and other credit reporting agencies practicing this kind of fraudulent service should be heavily fined, ALL monies returned to customers by Experian, and then they (Experian) put on probation for a lengthy period of time until they no longer operate this fraudulent service. I am still owed approximately $100 from Experian, even though I made numerous phone calls re the return, but to no avail. I currently have this situation in my follow-uo file but due to health problems have not found "an abundance of time" to, for the time being, be in almost constant contact to continue addressing this issue. Thank you for your time.

If you sign up with any of the 3 credit bureau paid yearly services it can be difficult to cancel - they require you to talk to a "rep" who discourages you from canceling - and they auto renew using the credit card number you originally provided.

Also, making corrections to your report can be a nightmare because you must have a copy of the bureau's report in front of you when you call. That means that you either have to get a copy from annualcreditreport.com or buy one, you can't simply tell them that you know an error exists.

Plus, you must remember your TransUnion username and password if you want to get a free credit report next year.

I receive a lot of credit card offers in the mail, many of which have hidden annual fees and various other types of fees. They do not mention these fees anywhere on the main part of the letter and application. The information on these fees is only on the back of the sheet, hidden amongst all the legal mumbo-jumbo. Just the other day, my husband came across one that charges $150 a year just to have the card! If you haven't already, you need to write an article about these "pre-approved" credit offers, and all the fees and stuff that you can easily get suckered into. I really wish the government would do more to regulate the sneakiness of credit companies. As I'm sure you know, there is a phone number that you can call to opt out of pre-approved credit offers. I did it for myself, and I haven't seen an offer in the mail since. (However, I have received some offers that were sent to me under my maiden name.) Thank you for "The Red Tape Chronicles." I wish more attention was cast on all the scams and crap that corporations and government pulls.

Thank you. We had the same problem but did cancel and got reimbursed. However, I continue to get emails from them and was charged another time after the reimbursement. We had to go through the telephone cancellation, etc.

My problem with all of this is that one is forced to pay to see their credit score. this is true even if you use AnnualCreditReport.com. I think that ones credit score should automatically be available free of charge. Until this happens, all of these sites are scamming consumers in one way or another.

Thank you, thank you, thank you for the reminder.

Every consumer should take advantage of the free annual credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com, and every American should take every precausion to protect their Social Security Number. I am a victim of ID theft as a result of my ex-husband and his wife using my Social Security Number to obtain my credit report from freecreditreport.com. Trust me, once someone has opened an account with freecreditreport.com under false pretenses (saying they are the person they are requesting the report for), it's like pulling teeth to get the company to freeze the online account so they can't get your information any longer. The security measures for freecreditreport.com (and probably most other online companies, with the exception of AnnualCreditReport.com) need to be increased drastically. In my case, until I jumped through all kinds of hoops, placed many many calls to freecreditreport.com, filed a police report, hired an attorney to subpoena information, etc., the criminal was protected rather than the victim. With this company, they ask very basic "security" questions and as long as someone has your Social Security Number and date of birth, they can go to freecreditreport.com and get your information. Advice to every American out there: PROTECT YOUR IDENTITY.

I recommend truecredit.com. Yes you have to pay, but you can order from all three bureaus, and you can get your score from all three bureaus. Being only three years out of a bankruptcy, I closed on my first home in July. I could not have cleaned up my credit without this site.

I am not associated with this site, but have just found it an invaluable tool. I spend about $40 every six months to check for identity fraud, misreported information, and any questionable inquiries.

Just sharing my experience.

The best part when I canceled they offered me a Visa card. "Your credit sucks, have a credit card!"

i am a member of freecreditreport.com, and when i did obtain my credit report last year, the site required me to pay $25 to obtain my scores, which everyone knows is what's really important.... needless to say, i'm ready to ditch my membership with them for the obvious reasons: false advertising. i'm still hoping there's a site out there that will not only provide me with my credit information, but will actually give me my scores- for free!

Our right-wing fueled federal regulators are falling over themselves to invent new fines and punishment for the public broadcast of an off-color joke on the local FM morning show, or showcasing less than a second of Janet Jackson's tassled breast. Yet when it comes to broadcasting lies and fraud, all in the name of making a fast buck, our present politicians and they agencies they oversee go strangely quiet.

The REAL 'obscenity' on our radios and televisions is what our government is allowing unsavory predators and con artists to get away with on our airwaves.

Remember that in November.

"Publishing private e-mails is something that decent people don't generally do without very good reason," Buckmaster said.

Excerpt from another article on MSNBC.com today.

I enjoy you column. I find its content quite informative and useful.

I was reading the blog today. I honestly have read it several time, but only today did I realize that the emails of bloggers are posted.

I am very curious what the value is to this. This seems to open the respondents email to "phishing" and other scammers..............

Please, in this world full of fraud, please reconsider.

I would honestly like a response...........

Allan Oxenreiter
Email withheld but certainly can be googled....

The funny thing is, freecreditreport.com doesn't even give you the right number. It gives you some kind of inflated made up "Consumer" number to make it look to you like you have better credit than what you do, but it's not the number that potential creditors see. This happened to me recently while I was trying to get financing for a house.

If you don't even get the right number, then what is the point of even going to fcr.com?

I made a few attempts,just last week to sign up at freecreditreport.com. The site wanted a credit card number. I made a second attempt and finally exited the site. This was an indication that "Free" did not mean "Free"

I just fell for this last week. It is very misleading. They ask for your credit card number and actually state that it will not be charged. Thank you for writing this article. It's amazing that the people who make identity theft possible are trying to rip us off on the prevention side as well.

I saw on tv about 9 months ago that the credit bureau are not up to the current date on your credit report, so why trust them to give you up to date credit report, whih is false.

It's a great tool to have your credit report, but how do we get out credit rating?????

It is about time someone put a spotlight on this rip off! I have, for years, warned everyone I could about this scam & Thank you for doing the same.

The credit reporting agencies will report the good, the bad and the ugly with respect to individuals; however, where does one go to find out the respectfullnes of credit reporting agencies? I have never received a free credit report from Equifax. In fact, when I go to their web site, I am advised of the cost to receive a credit report and never advised there was actually a web site where I may receive a free annual credit report. Until I read this article, I did not know a web site existed where an actually free report could be received. Thanks.

I'm an American who's currently living in Canada. AnnualCreditReport.com won't give me access unless I'm using an American ISP. How can I get my credit report?

Thank you for spreading the word! These companies are getting rich off of poor suckers like us. ALWAYS read the fine print!!

If these credit agencies insist on making money off my name and my personal information by selling to 3rd parties such telemarketers, credit card companies, and whoever, I demand a cut of those sales as royalties.

I just checked out annualcreditreport at your suggestion and the page "expired" when I didn't list my mortgage company and mortgage payment - so much for them as well!

To Michelle S in Hamilton.
You asked "Where can you get a free credit report in Canada??"

If you go to equifax.ca you can request your file. Be warned there is no fee if you send a request and wait for it to be mailed to you. If you want it online along with some sort of additional analysis (probably nothing very valuable) then they will charge you a fee.

Steve, Calgary AB

I tried freecreditreport.com and realized quickly it was a bait and switch type scam. The really sad thing is that it is advertised on MSN.COM and I reported it to them over a year ago and heard nary a word back.

Can we start sueing all the companies that trick you into their service with a couple of month's free service too?

There are plenty of ads around that adverstise "It's free! (for the first X months)" and never mention that after that, you'll be paying quite a bit for your service.

I've had this with Time-Warner Cable here in Columbus. They advertised with "Get in for an incredible $29/95 a month"., so when signing up I asked what the rate was after those 3 months. Took me quite a while to get a straight answer.

It's trickery, and even when you try to get a staight answer they try to keep you as in the dark as possible.

I think NBC News should air this story and let everyone know what a scame this is. It is about time someone began exposing these THIEFS

I too was ripped off by these liars. They say they wont bill your account if you cancel by a certain date, which I did, but they still tried to charge my account for 3 months. Everytime I called them they kept saying I never cancelled it, which was a TOTAL lie. They should be turned in to the Better Business Bureau.

I did this ONLY to find out my credit score. Can I get my credit score at annualcreditreport.com?

What's the best place to get a copy of one's credit score?

I checked this site out about 1 1/2 years ago. The moment I had to supply a credit card number it was obviously not free and I never gave them another second of my time. I am surprised that they have been so successful.

One of the previous statements is correct - everything is free on AnnualCreditReport.com EXCEPT your credit scores. It makes it good to catch and fix errors on your credit report, but you still have to pay to see what your actual score is.

Hello..... we all want the credit score!!!! Why must we PAY for this??????? We shouln't have to pay for a score!!! This entire thing is so ridiculous

If Experian is someone that we are supposed to trust, a company that supposedly will assist in someone making a decision about our credit worthyness, why are they allowed to get away with this? They should be prosecuted and made to pay a large fine. Maybe then they would open their eyes and see how they are misleading people. Maybe we should question the information they are reporting as well. How accurate is it? If they are willing to mislead and steal from consumers there is no telling how honest their practice of reporting correct information is.

I PUT IN FOR THE FREE CREDIT REPORT AND REALIZED THE SCAM.i WANTED OUT AND THEY WOULD NOT LET ME SO I CANCELLED THE CREIT CARD AND GOT A NEW ACOUNT NUMBER SO THAT THEY WOULD NOT CHARGE ME.

Thank you so much for this article. I was thinking of getting a 'FREE' credit report from that website.

I just tried to get my report fron AnnualCreditReport.com after reading your article. Both of them forwarded me not to a government sponsered site but to the very companies that sell use these reports. I typed in all the information that was requested and was not surprised when I was redirected to another page that said they could not confirm my identity and could not provide the requested information. I was born and raised in Dallas, Texas. I have never changed my name or done anything else criminal or neferious. Other than to get me to pay them money, why would they refuse to provide this information, since it is supposed to be available by law.

I signed up for FreeCreditReport.com, but anyone should be suspicious when the word "free" is mentioned. I saw the disclaimers and I knew it wasn't free after a month. Signed up, programmed by Palm to remind me in 20 days, and then called to cancel after 20 days. The cancellation call was humorous--they asked me question after question trying to convince me otherwise. To each question I simply replied, "Please cancel my account." And they went to the next question, "Please cancel my account." I didn't count how many times they asked, but I'm sure it was at least 10. But I just kept saying, "Please cancel my account." Eventually they did and I was never charged.

You *do* get a Free credit report (one) and I didn't find it difficult to see that it wasn't going to be free if I didn't cancel. But the cancellation process was just silly. I've heard AOL has much the same "cancellation process" where they nearly refuse to cancel if you are't insistent.

I teach identity theft classes. Students raise questions about the misleading FreeCreditReport.com in almost every class. I’m disappointed that the FTC has not taken a harder stance against the confusing advertisements.

I like the points made by Jim Battaglieri in his comments above.
-- Merchants should be charged for erroneous credit reporting.
-- Credit reports won’t inform consumers about others using your social security number.

The FTC Chairman is the co-chair on the President’s Identity Theft Task Force. I encourage everyone to write her to suggest that our credit reports should provide an entry indicating how many people are using our social security number.

Exposing identity thieves using others social security numbers would be a good task for the ID Theft Task Force. The credit bureaus could provide reports of multiple people using the same SSN.

Send this suggestion to expose multiple user SSNs to:

Deborah Platt Majoras
Co-Chairman of Identity Theft Task Force
600 Pennsylvania Avenue, N.W.,
Washington, D.C. 20580

--- www.IdTheftAwareness.com

Yes, FreeCreditReport.com is a rip-off but you have to be an idiot to be taken in by it. Your first clue should be when you have to enter your credit card number!

On the Annual Credit Report site where you can actually get a free report yearly, it costs $5.95 to get your actual credit score because the reports don't give it to you.

i did fall for this - and when I tried to get it stop - they double talked me into unknowly keeping the service. I am an educated consumer, but these people have made a profession out of scamming.

Good article except that one important thing was left out. For an individual to take full advantage of what congress has done, self credit monitoring is more achievable if the individual only checks one credit reporting agency (Equifax, TransUnion, Experian)report every three months. This takes a small amount of planning on the part of the individual but why wouldnt you want to be in control of your own credit. The ability to utilize AnnualCreditReport.com is at the hands of the consumer and although you may not know your individual credit score, there is enough information on the web to figure out whether your score is amicable or not.

I'm an American living in Canada (hopefully only temporarily), and when I went to Annualcreditreport.com, it said you could only order it within the U.S. and it's territories. Certainly I'm not the only American *outside* the U.S. right now. Does that mean I'm not entitled to get my credit report? (yet another in a long list of reasons to leave) This is the first time it's even come up... usually the site is unavailable. Please help!

I enrolled and took the time to read the disclaimer. I wanted my actualy credit score, not just a free copy of my report. The free annual report is great for making sure there isn't fraudulant info, but your score is what matters when you're applying for credit. I canceled within the 30 days and wasn't charged. It's not brain surgery. I'm really getting tired of people blaming companies when they don't read the fine print. But here's a tip for everyone -- if you're ever applying for something that's supposed to be be "free" they won't need your credit card. If they do, then that "free" thing is most likely a trial membership.

I have attempted to get a credit report from them in the past as well. I have been continously ripped off from them and the information that was on there was inaccurate to begin with.

I really think that it should be important that the Government sets up a credit reporting agency in-house in which the information is free to every taxpaying consumer. Fees could be collected for subsequent times thereafter (say after the 3rd report in a year) to help with costs. Being a concious consumer, I'd like to have a more reliable place to go for my credit information.

Amazing! Saw the commercial, logged into the site, and when it asked for my credit card number I read the fine print and realized it was not free. That was all. Read the fine print folks, especially when someone asks for your credit card number. Common sense, some would say.

Must be our government does not care very much about our well being.

We have seen MANY times this guy named JOHN SCHERER advertising his products to learn various computer items (Quicken, Word, Excel, etc.) and ALWAYS, he states it is ALL free....JUST pay the shipping fee, which will be refunded if not satisfied!!! That is NOT FREE!!!
His latest thing? Learning how to use E-Bay! It can be done FREE by going to the E-bay web site and clicking onto their pages for help!!!!!!!
GET THIS GUY TO HONOR HIS "FREE" STATEMENT!!!!

I used FreeCreditReport.com for the 1st time last year. They told me I had one month of the free service. Right before the free month was up (from sign up date to sign up date) I called to cancel. They said I missed the month end date and charged me for the second month. This year, the same month as last year, I signed on again to see my new score and they said I didn't qualify for the free report. It was a one user offer. I had to pay the $12.95 to get my credit score. When I went to cancel they kept trying to get me to stay on for the entire month. I didn't want to fall for that again. I still don't know why I had to pay when it was a year later........hmmmm?

Oh, and the reason the annual credit report doesn't give your score is that experian, equifax and transunion all use their own methods for computing your score and your score varies between each company -- you don't have just "one" credit score. Each lender uses at least one of the bureaus when determining credit worthiness. Your credit score is proprietary information -- that's why it's not part of your annual credit report. The information on your credit report is not proprietary information, that's why you can see it.

The Viedo Professor is a rip off. If you order their products You have ten days to return one cd or be billed 45.00. Their adds don't tell You this nor does the Package You receive. Only after You open the package is the ten day gimmick explained. A rip off pure and simple

Thanks for using your soapbox to educate instead of mislead. You are part of a distinct minority.

A little less than a decade ago, most of what you could find on the web was free. The information superhighway was still then about information and not marketing.

Today, the internet is one vast fleamarket populated with merchants and scam artists who give absolutely nothing away for free. As a matter of fact, if you even see the word ‘free’, you can wager that your name, phone number, email address and date of birth will be required in addition to that of a credit card or bank account. And once you let that information go to the wrong sort, you’ll never be able to get it back.

Unfortunately, the superhighway died an untimely death, shot dead by a wide world of greed. But you can still make use of it if you remember that trusting anyone with more than a wink and a nod is just a bad idea.

For the sake of arguments....forget these so called disclaimers I'm not a lawyer.. Free means Free!!!!
Just be honest....

They fully understand what they are doing, and hope you do forget about cancelling. I would have no problem with someone taking matters into their own hands and giving these companies an old fashoned style of justice. They don't care what we think or do. They have no interest in keeping their information accurate. I'd love to see these jerks taken off their high horse.

First of all I shouldn't have to buy something that I generated. And being "allowed" to receive one copy a year is ludicrous. I received my "free copy" but with out the credit score which THEY (THE BIG THREE)dangle for a price.
Creditors pull an inquiry on your account all the time. When you have something derogitory they are quick to point this out that you "have something questionable" but tell you to call one of the three agencies to get it because they can not tell you what it is.
Well, I gave my creditors the privlidge of being able to acquire this information through a credit application. I pay interest on the account so ergo I should be entitled to that same information when acquired. The cost of the report for the consumer should be paid by the creditor and a copy sent to the consumer when inquired upon. I already paid for this through interest on the account. If it were not for my business they would not be in business!
In viewing my credit report I see inquiries from business that I don't do business with. What's up with that? I know it's simple Marketing 101 but where is the check and balance to this? Now this is a big window for credit fraud which brings up the subject of another cost scheme to the consumer, Fraud Potection. It's one big circle jerk/reach around for the consumer.

First of all I shouldn't have to buy something that I generated. And being "allowed" to receive one copy a year is ludicrous. I received my "free copy" but with out the credit score which THEY (THE BIG THREE)dangle for a price.
Creditors pull an inquiry on your account all the time. When you have something derogitory they are quick to point this out that you "have something questionable" but tell you to call one of the three agencies to get it because they can not tell you what it is.
Well, I gave my creditors the privlidge of being able to acquire this information through a credit application. I pay interest on the account so ergo I should be entitled to that same information when acquired. The cost of the report for the consumer should be paid by the creditor and a copy sent to the consumer when inquired upon. I already paid for this through interest on the account. If it were not for my business they would not be in business!
In viewing my credit report I see inquiries from business that I don't do business with. What's up with that? I know it's simple Marketing 101 but where is the check and balance to this? Now this is a big window for credit fraud which brings up the subject of another cost scheme to the consumer, Fraud Potection. It's one big circle jerk/reach around for the consumer.

They should be fined greatly and put out of business. This company is simply misleading the public and profiting from it.

If anyone does order a copy of their credit report, they should do so only from annualcreditreport.com. When received, put it in a safe place (for your eyes only) or shred it. Losing this credit credit report or it falling into the hands of someone else can create havoc that will take years to correct.

Good article. I didn't fall for paying for the service. I used it about 4 weeks ago and it WAS FREE! Waht they failed to tell me was they were going to release/sell (woof) my personal info and I was going to be slammed with SPAM. I'm going to double check to make sure if there's anything I must cancel to avoid charges, that I cancel. Thanx again.

Thanks for writing this article... I visited their site a long time ago and quickly figured out that the "free" part was flat out not true... It irritated me that we (and this mainly speaks to the FTC) would allow such blatantly untrue advertising to go on and on and on... That these guys are allowed to make a dime (and I'm sure they make a lot more than that) by pounding home this word "free" in their ubiquitous advertising is just wrong... By writing this article, perhaps you've saved even a few more folks from being duped by Experian... Thanks again...

I was also misled initially by the ads for FreeCreditReport.com. But it was obvious that it wouldn't be free when the credit card number was asked. Come on now, is there really anything "free" today? Read, read, read before signing up for anything.

Good article. I didn't fall for paying for the service. I used it about 4 weeks ago and it WAS FREE! Waht they failed to tell me was they were going to release/sell (woof) my personal info and I was going to be slammed with SPAM. I'm going to double check to make sure if there's anything I must cancel to avoid charges, that I cancel. Thanx again.

I would expect the credit report to include the credit score. I guess not! One does have to pay for the credit score.

I fell for it and instead of $12.00 on my first monthly fee it was $1200.00 now I am having a time getting my money back.

Keep in mind, the consumer score you buy from the credit bureaus will be different then the scores a mortgage company pulls from the credit bureaus. Fair Isaac is the company used to generate mortgage scores were as the credit bureaus generate the consumer scores. Check out www.myfico.com.

How much input did the 3 credit unions have to say about the drafting of the legislation? It is clearly designed to create more revenue for them. Why was this allowed? The credit unions are bilking people using scare tactics; id theft, misinformation and incomplete data to fatten their revenue.

Everyone looks to the three credit reporting agencies to be honest and accurate. When Experian is part of this misleading practice it casts doubt on not only Experian but the other two agencies as well. Any one with credit relies on these organizations to be truthful because our livelyhoods depend on them. This is VERY DISTURBING!

Real simple. If it requires a credit card number, then there will be a catch.

To the poster who couldn't get her TransUnion report from annualcreditreport.com b/c of "security" reasons: this happened to me as well. I tried many times to get my TU report (I had no problems with Experian or Equifax) but each time it said the same thing--I couldn't access my report for security reasons. My husband tried too and couldn't get his. Well, we reported TransUnion to the FTC and guess what! We got our TransUnion reports. We think it was a scam and TU's way of trying to make us pay for our credit reports instead of getting the annual free credit report. Anyone else have problems with TransUnion?

When you Google "free credit report" there are three sponsored links at the top of the page. The first regular link is the (truly free) "annualcreditreport.com" site that Bob Sullivan suggests we use. I agree with his suggestion. The three sponsored links include the (not really free) site that Bob warns us about called "freecreditreport.com" and "freecreditreportsinstantly.com" which I am warning you about. It uses what's called "negative option marketing" to get you to inadvertantly subcribe to a credit monitoring program that charges $19.95 to your credit card each month. In the first two pages of the process for getting your "free" credit report they repeatedly use the word "free" in bold and graphic forms like a simulated "PostIt note". Thye charge you $1 for the report, which is refundable. That's how they get your credit card number. But in the infamous "offer details/fine print" they also tell you that you'll be signing up for the $19.95 credit monitoring service. So this may be a legal offer but I consider it deceptive. You have to be very insistent when you call their 800 number to cancel this membership and reverse the charges.This web site is operated by AP9 Privacy Matters 1-2-3 which is an Adaptive Marketing company web site. Adaptive Marketing is owned by Vertrue (VTRU), a public company. For more information, see http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2005/vertrue.html and http://www.consumeraffairs.com/news04/2006/05/ia_vertrue.html and http://www.vertrue.com/. Good luck!

To the poster who couldn't get her TransUnion report from annualcreditreport.com b/c of "security" reasons: this happened to me as well. I tried many times to get my TU report (I had no problems with Experian or Equifax) but each time it said the same thing--I couldn't access my report for security reasons. My husband tried too and couldn't get his. Well, we reported TransUnion to the FTC and guess what! We got our TransUnion reports. We think it was a scam and TU's way of trying to make us pay for our credit reports instead of getting the annual free credit report. Anyone else have problems with TransUnion?

Ditto to everyone about credit scores. Those should be free as well. Credit reporting as it currently exists is as anti-consumer as anything.

You can get all three FICO scores and credit reports from Fair-Isaac (myfico.com).

The problem with many of these scams (actually, if you're the scammer, it's an advantage) is that people tend to trust first, then think. Folks, this may sound paranoid, but TRUST NO ONE! Especially people to whom you send money for a service. You expect to get your money's worth, but experience shows that's rarely the case. Make sure you get what you pay for, and if the product claims to be free, you'd better make darned sure it is! Nobody is going to adequately police these things except those who use the services!

Of course, that means taking a little personal responsibility and standing up for your rights, and I think it's also been proven that we're a country full of people who are more inclined to let someone else fight their battles. If you're not willing to fight for your rights, don't moan when someone tramples on them.

I used to work for a major bank, and I cannot count the number of times people would inquire on charges from Triple Advantage. When informed it was a credit monitoring service, these customers would explode, as they never remembered agreeing to such a service. Many VISA/MC disputes were filed as a result.

The three credit agencies are Experian, TransUnion and Equifax. Your credit score is determined by Fair Isaac (FICO).

There are dozens if not hundreds of outfits claiming "free" reports, credit counselling, loan consolidation and credit scores. Talk to somebody you know who works in a bank or credit union, read the fine print, and beware of phishing and other fakery.

I also was duped by free credit report.com I only found out about it later. This site has lots of truely free information on credit reports. http://www.creditreportcoach.com They do charge you for yoru credit report though.

Yes, I was also tricked by freecreditreport.com, however, I was also able to recover the money charged to me after I called and complained to the company. Thanks for the article!

I'm terrified of getting old...loss leaders, bait and switch, complicated phone trees, legal disclaimers a mile long, and companies with service agreements that are stuck to you like a leech on your leg. I"m 39 - had my credit card number stolen twice - been "slammed" while I was switching phone carriers - how does someone 80 years old even know where to start when these things happen? It's a wonder there is any trust anywhere in the business world - technology has just become another tool by the cunning and deceitful to gather as many innocent trustworthy "fish" into their net - sad, sad, sad... it will be the end of us.

I just tried to get my credit report through Annualcreditreport.com which is reported through this site and they are still ripping people off. It dead ends at the third step at Experian. No where to go without paying $7.50 Now they are using this website to attract business.

First of all I realize that nothing in this world is for free. I go to free credit report.com. They give
me part of my credit report for free. Then they say
you can get a full credit report for $34.95. I agree to pay the $34.95 to get my full credit report. Then
I get charged $99 a few months later to my credit card
without my approval. I call them and they tell me that it was an annual membership fee and it is non refundable. In my dictionary I would define that as
FRAUD!!!!!!!!!!!

“I really wish the government would do more to regulate the sneakiness of credit companies.”

In case you haven’t read the new bankruptcy laws, the government works for the credit companies.

I agree with previous statements about annualcreditreport.com. It's good to see your credit transactions, but you shouldn't have to pay to get the score. This is a good article and I agree the subject should be aired on tv for all those who don't have computers and who would benefit from this information.

Sounds like all the so-called "free" things that are advertised. "Get a free IPOD....Get a free laptop computer....etc" Then when you visit the site you have to click on all the other "free" offers. What they don't tell you is that unless you actually BUY something from these offers, you don't get the "free"
IPOD or computer or anything else. And the offers keep coming up and are often marked yes so that you have to click on the no button or you'll get tons of junk you don't want or need. My mother always told me there's no such thing as a free lunch. She was right!!

Always remember what Tom Waits said: "The large print giveth and the small print taketh away".

I also tried the web site, and the information was old. And yes, it will cost you actually obtain your credit score, which they advertise as FREE. I did not pay and I did not get my score. Ripoff!

I just tried to get my credit report through Annualcreditreport.com which is reported through this site and they are still ripping people off. It dead ends at the third step at Experian. No where to go without paying $7.50 Now they are using this website to attract business.

There are so many of these "free" deals that aren't - or "unlimited" deals that aren't - that one wonders - where is the FTC and State Attorney General offices?

Another example - we all have cell phones, right? Most of us have "Free Unlimited Mobile-To-Mobile, Night and Weekend" calling - or at least some of those (some don't have mobile-to-mobile, for example). Verizon calls this "IN", T-Mobile "M2M", etc.

Well, guess what - its not really unlimited and, therefore, its also not "Free". All of these companies have PROPRIETARY limits on this "free" usage, and if you exceed them, you are both dropped as a customer (in some cases, whether in contract or not!) AND blacklisted to prevent you from EVER signing up for an account with them that has such an "unlimited free" service available again.

Is something "free" or "unlimited" if there's really a limit - undisclosed, that can change from day to day depending on the firm's whim - which you're unaware of?

Where are the regulators - the FTC and State AG offices - on these matters? Experian has been getting away with this for a long time, and so have the cell phone companies. While you CAN find this on the "Freecreditreport" web site, you won't find ANY disclosure of this on your cell phone bill - all that's in THEIR terms and conditions is this nebulous fine print about reserving the right to terminate service if, in their SOLE opinion, your usage is "abusive."

In some cases "abusive" can be as little as 2 hours of talking a night - on a supposed "free, unlimited" account!!

Thank you for exposing this scam on the Internet, but how about taking it on in the general sense - and putting the names of companies that practice this sort of deceptive thing out in the spotlight where it needs to be, so that pressure is brought to bear on the regulators to DO THEIR JOB and STOP IT!

An excellent article. I'm fortunate enough to live in a state where the right to a free report has been in effect for several years. I actually get a postcard from TransUnion and Experian each year, or if something negative gets reported about me. The best part is that the card includes a toll-free number I can call, and I get my report mailed to me that way.

This should not be a discussion, but it will be as long as George W. Bush is in office. Why is it that the EU has a fairly comprehensive data privacy law, but we have nothing in the United States. We should not have to pay for our credit report, and we should not have to pay for credit monitoring either. Credit monitoring services should be a standard part of the program. I don't pay for Social Security monitoring, nor do I pay for monitoring of my 401k. It's time for the Department of Commerce to take over control of credit ratings and the "credit score".

Hey Bob, you hit a hot button here. Look at all the responses saying the same things. Once again, its un-American to keep this secret dossier (your credit report) on you then make you run through a maze to get a copy. But since all the reporting is reduced to one simple number (your FICO score), only the number is important. Now, just try and argue something on your report. You might correct blatant errors, but if comes down to you vs the creditor, the creditor will win. You have no credibility.
So who is going to stop this crap?

Thanks for that. Could you please offer information about how flawed the whole system is to begin with? I know of another girl who had the same name as me except for 1 letter in the middle name, mine is Diane hers was Deane. Her SS # and her adresses show as previos addresses on my file. So now atleast I have her SSN and I can mess with her, like she did me. Like picking up my perscriptions when she discovered went to Phar More. In my opinion, things like this create credit problems. I mean they are offering me this girls info on a silver platter. You can't dispute address information either. Did it not occur to the system that some of these adresses and dates cross each other?

This FreeCreditReport.com/Experian scam is but the latest example of why American cities should bring back the public stocks and horsewhipping. And the "I'm thiiiiiiinking of a number" spokesdroid in their ads should be the first one tied to the whipping post.

People need to remember that every inquiry to a credit agency costs them a point or two on their credit score. If they apply for credit at several places for the same purchase, it can make a negative difference. I'm not sure that requests for your own report do this as well, but they may.

The same "thinking of a number" actor is also featured in a series of commercials inviting people to work from their homes, where they shall earn zillions of megabucks. The viewer is informed that they are watching actors in teeny print at the bottom of the screen. The website the viewer is directed to is also allegedly "free" but after reading Mr Sullivan's article, one ends up with the impression there lurks yet another catch.

Frankly, the fact that they need a credit card number should tip you off that it isn't free. If they aren't going to charge the card, why do they need the number?

There seems to be a misconception about credit reports and scores. You do not own the report and score. You did not gather the information, aggregate it, and store it. You did not develop a formula for calculating the credit score. Therefore, since you did nothing to contribute to the report or the score, it really does not seem like you should have any rights to it. You have to pay appraisers to value your house so it makes sense that you have to pay a credit company to assess your credit.

As for people who get suckered in by fcr.com, you should know that when you give out your credit card info, someone has plans to charge it at some point. This is no different than any other free trial, whether it is a music download service or AOL. Instead, maybe people should think before giving out information rather than looking for someone else to blame.

I ordered their service last year and these creeps billed my checking account every month for a "monitoring fee" that I didn't want. I eventually ended up having to cancel the debit card in order to stop the transactions. Way to go MSNBC for exposing these frauds!

Why pay for the consumer scores from the bureaus? Creditors use the scores that are generated at Fair Isaac. There always different. See www.myfico.com.

Thank you for reporting this scam! Not only did we have to pay for the report but we could not get them to STOP the automatic payments even after repeated requests. We ended up having to cancel the credit card the payments were billed on to get them to go away.

My father gave me some very good advice a long time ago when I was entering the world of responsibility, "Nothing is ever free" and "There is a sucker born every day". I strongly believe that this helped me remain debt free and able to wade through all the bullshit lies and scams from businesses like FreeCreditReport.com and each and every credit card company.

I ordered their service last year and these creeps billed my checking account every month for a "monitoring fee" that I didn't want. I eventually ended up having to cancel the debit card in order to stop the transactions. Way to go MSNBC for exposing these frauds!

I agree, you should not have to pay to see your credit report, it's information that was gathered about you. You should be able to charge the credit agencies for getting information without your consent. Anyone that "requires" your social security number should be charged, by the owner of the social security number. If we could do that, we would all be debt free. Really, to have to pay for your own credit report I feel is stealing.

To get a free credit score go to MYFICO.COM. The trial membership to Scorewatch lasts 30 days and then you will be charged a fee. They do send an email to you before the charge occurs, letting you know that the trial offer is about to expire. As noted in other memos, the credit reporting agencies are not current with your credit situation. I called Am Ex to find out how often they send updates to the credit agencies; they send reports every 30 days. However, I was told that the agencies themselves are about 60 days behind in updating the credit scores.
I was able to get all three agencies' credit reports online through annualcreditreport.com. You might want to stagger the requests instead of getting all three at once.

This is my most favorite topic of all the things that Bob Sullivan reports in the Red Tape Chronicles, and each time this particular topic appears it is yet another small but significant victory for the common folk!

One could write thousands and thousands of words on this but still not cover everything in extreme detail--so, in the interest of brevity and a change of pace, how about a thought provoking POP QUIZ?

POP QUIZ:

BACKGROUND: Experian is one of three national credit reporting companies that collect, maintain, and report credit, financial, and other personal information about every person they can find and indentify through a wide variety mechanisms, many of which involve elaborate data mining. The people about whom they gather and store information cannot see all the information, but virtually any bank or business can. One might presume that companies like Experian follow the highest standards of integrity, honesty, quality, and security in their roles not only as repositories and analyzers of our personal and private information but also as guardians of this vital information that is used by banks and businesses to make key decisions that affect us significantly by providing a supposedly fair and simple way for lenders to determine how much money they can extract from our purses and wallets when we make credit purchases.

QUESTION: Does the careful and precise design and wording of the user interface of the GUS PLC (London Stock Exchange: GUS.L) subsidiary Experian's subsidiary ConsumerInfo.com's FreeCreditReports.com website (only one of a family of many such online consumer credit reporting sites operating under the GUS PLC umbrella) provide a huge insight into the inner workings of real world of credit and personal information brokering and reporting?

POSSIBLE ANSWERS:

(a) TRUE: Like all the national credit and personal information reporting companies, these folks continue to use every trick in the book to make as much money as they can by doing little more than collecting endless bits of information, accurate or inaccurate, about us from wherever they can and then by selling it to us and anyone else for every penny they can get. They are weasels, and if you have any doubts, all you need to do is to take a few minutes to read the fine print at any of their family of subsidiaries of families of websites.

OR

(b) FALSE: Without companies like Experian, how could our community association realistically threaten the slackers among our neighbors who continue (a) not to mow their front and back yards every Thursday between the hours of 12:00 and 14:00 to the agreed upon by consensus height of exactly 1.75 inches and (b) not to have the community association approved duotone USPS approved mailbox mounted on the required and, of course, community association approved post in the precise location as defined in the bylaws and regulations of said community association, as amended in the most recent private leadership and governance session?

Thanks!

JD

I became victim of the same fraud and they charged us 29.99 * 2 for 2 reports. After that they charged 9.99 * 2 for couple of months while we were not using any of the services "provided" to the subscribers. There was no communication via mail about the subscription or its benifits. When I called to cancel and asked if they can refund me the money, they said "NO". I advise you guys never never use FreeCreditReport.com.

Yea, got ripped off too. If a class action suite is filed it is well deserved. Contact me if anyone has information about filing a suite.

Recently we purchased a home and when doing that the banks or mortgage brokers need to get your credit report as well. The SAME day we seen our broker that he had gotten both mine and my husbands reports I came home and got mine off one of those supposedly "free" sites and was I shocked. Not only was there at least a 70+ difference in what his showed to mine but the broker also informed me that those sites can also give information that is anywhere from 30-150 days old!!! Also with alot of the "free" reports you are told you can view it up to 30 days and check for changes. You have to BUY a whole new report to actually see if theres been any changes, and that report still might not have any new updates to it. In my experience with reports I would rather go to a finacial institution and pay their price and receive one that I know is up to date and with the right score.

Unesical businesses:
#1. AOL (phone number for cancellation is nowhere found on their website)
#2. Free credit report - scam!

I went to equifax and it took me to freecreditreport.com and for the free credit report I thought it was odd asking for my credit card but it seemed more like it was asking for information about me to help identify me. Well needless to say there was about 6 months of charges that I had to call/email them about 3-4 times to remove. Never was there even a mention of a monthly fee or the appearance of purchasing anything. Stay away from equifax and freecreditreport, far far away. I just didn't suspect this type of behavior from the equifax name so they got me. They fixed it but I am sure many have been caught by it as the credit info appears to be something to differentiate your credit report records.

I just ended my free month preview after I recieved my report form freecreditreport.com because of the credit score. I am buying a house and used the score they gave me to shop for loans, but when my credit was pulled by a lender the experian one was 40 points lower than the one I recieved from freecreditreport.com. The lender said they have seen this before. Not only misleading, but useless.

I especially like how the credit report agencies will grudgingly release one (1) single report per year for each consumer, but they will NOT under any condition release your actual credit score. No, for that, you must pay.

I went to Experian and it took me to freecreditreport.com and for the free credit report I thought it was odd asking for my credit card but it seemed more like it was asking for information about me to help identify me. Well needless to say there was about 6 months of charges that I had to call/email them about 3-4 times to remove. Never was there even a mention of a monthly fee or the appearance of purchasing anything. Stay away from Experian and freecreditreport, far far away. I just didn't suspect this type of behavior from the equifax name so they got me. They fixed it but I am sure many have been caught by it as the credit info appears to be something to differentiate your credit report records.

It is important to note that you get a free credit report from EACH of the three reporting agencies every year. A wise person would order one from a different agencies every 4 months, instead of all three at once. Then you have a three snapshots every year.

I went to the Equifax site on freeannualreport.com and got my credit report. I was actually looking for my credit score. But it says it costs money. No thanks.

When I became interesed in monitoring my credit history, I initially cheked www.freecreditreport.com, confusing it with www.annualcreditreport.com. Prior to completing the application, I noticed the charge involved and decided against it. So I went through the second site and I was able to get copies of my CREDIT REPORT, not CREDIT SCORE, which the three companies will charge you for ($7.99 was the cost when I last checked, and it might have changed).

Here is a hint. You are granted one free credit report per company per year, meaning you can actually get three credit report. Instead of printing out all three credit reports at one time, cycle through the reports every four months. I checked Transunion first, then Experian. I forgot the name of the third one, but I will visit them sometime before the end of the year for it.

"NOTHING IN THIS WORLD IS FREE"
"IF IT'S TOO GOOD TO BE TRUE......

why does everyone act so suprised???
free credit is not a charity, obviously they were making money....

After looking into all these FREE Credit Report sites. There is no way to get anything totally free !!!. Even the free reports don't give you your score which was the only thing you really wanted in the first place.
So if you want to get a totally free credit report SCORE for free, go put a deposit on a new car and the dealership will run one for you for free. Then canceal the car. You'll get your deposit back !!!.

I, too was tricked by the Experion website to get a free credit report. I'm a pretty savvy woman and I got took. My husband called the FreeCredit Report.com to cancel and they got real snippy said we had a contract and that we owed the money. Called and talked with 2 different people and both of them were nasty. We contacted our credit card company to have the charges reversed out of our credit card account. If we don't get satisfaction, we will call the BBB and the attorney generals office about this scam. I don't understand how these companies are allowed to operate. Shame on Experion for allowing to be hooked up with this scam.

I don't listen to commercials to much as that they are all misleading as is. Companies such as these and companies that are paid by them to advertise should both be prosecuted!
The only reason I read this headline on MSNBC is because of seeing FreeCreditReport.com all over a car that runs in NASCAR. A misleading company as FreeCreditReport.com is allowed to advertise their lies by another major corporation such as Roush Racing, they both should be prosecuted! Boycotting both companies’ products would send a message!
A business that misleads, lies, rips-off the public should not be allowed to continue their business at all. And that goes to the corporations or other companies that advertised or support them! Laws need to be made or enforced and companies or corporations that resort to misleading and ripping off the public should be made easier to sue and prosecute!

I think that the saddest thing about this whole system is that your whole life and reputation relies on your credit score - and there is no control over it. It takes a second for them to put something wrong on, and 3 months, a dozen phone calls and 50 letters to get it corrected! And then, a few months later...it shows up again - how does THAT happen? If something is THAT important, how about a little QC? Perhaps the gov't could start imposing fines for every inaccuracy...then they could make some money and perhaps balance the budget....and then the reporting agcy's would have incentive to stay accurate. Just a thought.

I almost fell into the FCR.com scam, got out when it asked for cc info. And I did the annualcreditreport.com thing too and could only get one of my reports, the others said no for "security reasons". I thought they HAD to give us our annual copy - how is it that they can get out of it? More needs to be done to get control over this industry, or less emphasis needs to be put on credit score! (that's another thing - why can't we see our report when a potential lender pulls it? they always say "oh I can't show this to you" it's our info!!! We should be allowed to see it!!!

credit scores can be found at myfico.com but there is a charge. credit scores are not free under the federal act. good luck

After looking into all these FREE Credit Report sites. There is no way to get anything totally free !!!. Even the free reports don't give you your score which was the only thing you really wanted in the first place.
So if you want to get a totally free credit report SCORE for free, go put a deposit on a new car and the dealership will run one for you for free. Then canceal the car. You'll get your deposit back !!!.

Great info. I would add that you can request a free annual report from each of the three bureaus at different times. Every four months I get a free report by rotating thru the bureaus.

There ought to be federal laws to ban all credit reporting services, to ban pay-for-credit reporting and monitoring, to ban companies for misusing, abusing or corrupting credit information on consumers and the general public, to prohibit discrimination on the basis on bad credit rating, to prohibit predatory lending services for good, and to establish a federal credit reporting/monitoring agency to provide FREE credit reporting and monitoring for all Americans at no charge, in addition to establishment an independent public commission to WATCH that agency and PREVENT corporate lobbying (credit companies) on that agency.

The best site to go to in order to get your credit score is myfico.com. There is a charge for this, but the organization is not affiliated with any of the big three credit reporting agencies.

A couple of notes for people reading this article:

1. Want to know the difference between freecreditreport.com and annualcreditreport.com? The one that requires your credit card number is the one that will charge you! Annualcreditreport.com is the only one that does NOT charge you, as mandated by the federal government.

2. Yes you do have to pay for your credit score; only the credit reports are mandated by our government. I believe you would have to pay about $6 for your credit score to be added.

3. When you go to annualcreditreport.com for your TRULY FREE credit report, you are entitled to a credit report from each of the 3 agencies per year: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. You don't have to get all 3 at once, you just get to have one of each per year. So get one from one of them, then wait a few months and get one from another of them, then wait a few months and get the third one. Each company keeps track of how long it's been since you got a free report from them.

I am a strong consumer advocate, but I must side with FreeCreditReport.com on this one. I very recently used their site to obtain my Experian credit score for free (the Congress-inspired AnnualCreditReport does not include a score). I felt it was very clear that I would be signing up for a 30-day trial period for t