Even more interesting is that US military members and US Civilians working overseas are unable to access the AnnualCreditReport.com website. If you try, you receive the following message: "The AnnualCreditReport.com website is only accessible through ISPs (Internet Service Providers)located within the United States and its territories." I, however, have no problem accessing the Experian Pay website!

It's a sneaky trick. And why can't they make the fees in BOLD and upfront like the credit cards are required to do when you sign up
(22% APR)?

Why are people offering credit report monitoring as a tool against ID Theft when many forms of ID Theft do not appear on the credit reports?

Shouldn't credit reports come with a warning like tobacco...... since they create a false sense of security?

'There is no guarantee that credit reprot can stop or prevent ID Theft.'

These companies that do credit reporting are the new used car sales man. The cosumer protection folks need to take a look at redefineing free. Most people believe that something is free when you do not have to purchase something to get something. It looks like the credit reporting bunch are just like the informercials on TV. The difference is I can cut the TV off but most people need to see their credit report.

As to be expectred, Our goverment was trying to help the average man and some slezy business, no theives is a better word, does an end run around the law so as to steal more money from us.Why can't all the people be honest?God help them on Judgement day. Remember, Christ's words about the "Camel and the eye of a needle". If you don't beleive that, then, God Help you.

AnnualCreditReport.com does not allow access from non-US Internet Service Providers, meaning that expat Americans like me (living in the UK) just get an "access denied to non-US ISPs" message and cannot access our free US credit reports. Of course, the other (paid) web sites listed in the article work fine. So US expats are not just being misled like other Americans, but completely shut out.

The AnnualCreditReport.com webpage will only allow you to use a U.S. address. We're stationed with the U.S. Navy overseas and can only get the credit report by mailing a form in to the big 3. More than once, we've had them send us a letter stating that they couldn't find it because the address wasn't on file (despite being in the same place overseas for 4 years!).

Annualcreditreport.com is helpful, but I've only ever been able to access two of the reports...I was never able to make it through the security of the third credit bureau. I can't remember which one it was...transunion I think. It asked all the usual "security questions" that only I should know the answers to. Only problem was when I put the "correct" answers in, it told me they were wrong (!). WTF??? So, I was only able to get into two of the 3. My wife had the same problem with her reports...funny coincidence. Yea, that's great...security so tight NOBODY can get in. Oh well...I'm sure they laugh all the way to the bank.

after reading this article i am even more confused. where can i actually get a free credit report.

I have never understood why these companies keep something hidden from us that can affect us in such a negative way. When I went to buy a new car last year, I asked to see my credit report that the car company used. They refused and said it was against the law. I didn't feel like fighting, but I think it should be illegal for them to keep it from us. I have an 800+ credit score, but I still check it every year via annualcreditreport.com just to ensure there isn't anything on there that shouldn't be. I just really don't like the way they try to hide it from us when it is our credit score to begin with.

CONGRESS NEEDS TO PUT A HEFTY FINE ON THE THREE CREDIT BEREAU'S FOR MISSLEADING THE PUBLIC!!!!!!!!!

oh puuulease.

No matter whether you need to deal with cell phones or home improvement contracts you need to read the fine print.

A 'free' credit report that does not state it is the free annual report provided under federal law is not the free report.

Any report that requires that you 'sign up' is not the free report.

Any report which promises you a FICO score is not a 'free credit report' since there is no legal requirement that anyone give you your credit score as part of the free report.

There are just as many people who bought snake oil in the late 19th century. Just as many who pay too much for a car or home loan.

We could go to appliance sales, Empire Today next day flooring and window treatments and even hospital bills, and discover that consumers are not paying attention.

This is news how?

Our reporter tells us read the fine print in every single story. yawn.

I attempted to get my 'free' credit report from Experian. I had to give them my credit card number to 'verify my identity.' A month later there's a vague charge on my credit card bill from "CIC*Triple Advantage" for 12.95. I called phone number listed on my credit bill, and sure enough it was Experian. I was automatically enrolled in some BS credit monitoring service. There was never an option to opt out of that when I requested my credit report online; apparently I didn't have a choice. I demanded a refund, and they refunded part of the fee, but not all of it. I had to call again (and wait on hold and all that) to get the rest of my money back. What a scam....

I've always thought the government should force these sites to change their names. It's a sleazy thing to do - piggybacking off of the real 'free' credit reports you're entitled to every year. Just another case of the no-morals financial organizations.

These sleazy bastard credit reporting companies are best buddies in the form of major financial contributors to our equally sleazy elected congressional representatives who are completely aware of these unfair business practices and choose to 'wink' and maintain a blind eye in favor of continued greed, 'the Washington way'. Revised legislation could put a stop to these deceitful practices and actually help many Americans enhance their own quality of life by improving their own financial well-being by improving their own credit ratings. As long as the public tolerates such inept representation and unfair business practices these sleazy bastards will thrive... absent of all morals and ethics.

What's next? Paying extra to see the results of your own blood work? I don't understand how information that is rightfully yours can be held captive by a company that has no reason to exist at all. The gov't is the only other "person" who should have all of the information contained in a person's credit report. It is too important to have it handled by a private for-profit company. A person should be able to see THEIR credit history whenever they want to , as its THEIR credit history, not Transunion's or Experian's or Equifax's. These companies should cease to exist before there is a breach or another Enron.

i am relieved to read this article. i was very angry to find out that to get my "free" credit report, I was charged $39.99 for two consecutive months before i had to read the super fine print and be given the run around to cancel it. Wolves.

Capitalism at it's finest......shame shame, shame....

I think it's scary that American's very well being is being determined by three corporations that make it a job to lie. Hmmmmmmmmmm.....

As a middle-aged, reasonably responsible and aware consumer, I try to explain the credit reporting system to my teen aged children and their eyes roll back in their heads, completely baffled and bewildered.....having no idea what it means or the effect it will have on their lives for many years to come.

In Re: Credit Reports:

1) AnnualCreditReport.com allows you to do one "free" credit report per year. You can stagger the "free" reports from the three credit bureaus every four months, if necessary, to ensure a better knowledge of what is going on.

2) If you don't know the status of your finances, then a credit report may be useful in getting a handle on what is happening. But, only that, a handle. You still have to manage your finances yourself.

3) Disputes and errors. Just that! Correct them by writing to the credit bureaus. Or enjoy them. "Let me tell you the number of ways they can mis-spell your name, home town, address, & etc."

4) Credit scores are not a part of the "free" credit report system. That way, the credit reporting agencies have a carrot to offer for a "paid" subscription. Here is a little known secred: your credit score effectively changes daily. Every cappuchino on your credit card changes the reportable debit outstanding on that card! Every delayed, or late payment, or cell phone charge dispute, ends up affecting your score. Knowing your credit score is a case of chasing a chimerra. (Heck, even paying to get your score on your credit card means that your score will change when the charge hits the reporting agencies!)

4) There are really only three times that a credit score & report for an individual are necessary. They are, when applying for a mortgage, a large purchase, like a car, and when applying for a credit card. Note that credit cards are in an ongoing review cycle due to the mouse print contract that defines the terms of service (all in favor of the bank).

That said, why be an idiot and sign up for an advertised, fee based, pile of crud from the credit bureaus? Maybe P.T. Barnum had it right, " A sucker is born every minute. ..."

I've used the annualcreditreport.com site to get my free reports and although it's a bit clunky, it worked as it was supposed to and I received my reports- I believe it was Equifax that required me to write a letter to get the report but again, I received the reports and didn't pay anything. I didn't accept any of the offers to purchase my credit score. It did take a while to sort out what site was the one to use to get the reports required by the government to be free, perhaps a link that wasn't a commercial site, like a .org would make it more obvious?

Pretty typical stuff. The "mandated" free credit report is so full of loopholes that it is a joke. The only reason it was passed by congress was to make the average consumer think that the government cares. These weren' accidental loopholes, the bill was passed intentionally full of loopholes to make sure that the "big businesses" still had an opportunity to take advantage of the average American.

This credit report business is simply another way to bury middle class America. If you are late on a payment, if a business makes a mistake, if the mail is slow.........it is instantly and, for the most part, permanently established on your credit report. Even if the company in question has made a mistake and admits to that mistake, it still takes up to four months or longer at times, for your report to be corrected. In the mean time, other businesses that you have accounts with can raise your APR's based on the erroneous information that was posted on "YOUR" credit report.

The claim is that these reports help you and help hold interest rates down by identifying credit risks. What a joke, big business has no interest in fair practices or in helping middle class America, any more than our government is interested in helping middle and lower class America. They are in it for the money, plain and simple, they want the money and they don't care about who they step on to get it.

Our "leaders" in government, all the way to the top, are only interested in power and money. They can throw all the "help the middle and lower class" garbage that they want. It's all talk, there is no action.

The saddest thing is there is absolutely nothing we can do about it.

Equifax appears to be the only credit buteau operating within what one could term an ethical standard of business practices. Experian and Trans Union should be taken to task for their perversion of FACTA.

Is anyone really surprised by this? These companies want to get onboard the consumer spending spree in the same way credit card companies and banks are cashing in.

I think it's terrible that credit scores are not available for free annually. Another shoddy law.

BUSINESS-AS-USUAL... because Congress and the rest of "our" government work for big business, not for the American people. FACTA was created to pacify the ignorant masses and create another illusion of congressional servitude to them. It's all smoke and mirrors. That's what should be upsetting, but unfortunately the spotlight is on the symptoms rather than the disease. From the July 9th edition of Fortune Magazine: "In a wide-open race, candidates are scrambling to get CEO endorsements." Yes, big business and their politicians are laughing all the way to their banks... AT US!

Who cares?

Thank you for the information, I often wondered why all the different sites. I do have a question. If the credit reports are about my personal information, I should also have the right to see my personal credit scores, as well as the insurance scores. Seems to me everyone, but the individual has the right to personal information about themselves.

Lets not even get into how often there are errors on the reports these bureaus sell and how difficult they are to work with when you are trying to get their errors fixed. I had a horrible time dealing with Experian when they had my mothers credit information(our names have 1 letter difference and we share the same middle initial, but have different middle names), SSN, and DOB on my report, along with my own, in addition to the negative marks she had on her report that were over 25 years old and should have been removed from the report years ago, causing me to be denied credit due to multiple SSN's being associated with my name and negative marks that I wasnt even alive when they occurred. I was working in the credit industry at the time and knew what was and was not allowed by them and they tried at every opportunity to get around the rules. They did, eventually, fix the errors, but it was many months later and after I had to get an attorney actively involved. They are shady and need much more supervision and regulation than they are currently under, especially since credit reports and scores are increasingly used to determine what you can and cannot get (from credit to a job) and how much you have to pay for things you need (from interest rates on a mortgage to auto insurance premiums). They have too much control and not enough supervision and it needs addressed NOW.

When will we wake up and outlaw the whole credit report industry? They represent the new, virtual debtors' prison - the more you owe the more you pay in fees and interest.

Isn't this a violation of the truth in advertising laws? Why are these companies permitted to advertise "free" when it obviously isn't free?

If you use or try to use annualcreditreport.com it appears you get put on a marketing list. After I tried to use it (they ask for way too much info that you wont have readily available) I found myself inundated by spam offering credit monitoring, credit reports, etc.

It's just the American way !

Well, when one sees the word "free" he/she should
be intelligent enough to know it's not....

I attempted to use the FreeCreditReport,com site and was told there would be a charge when I canceled the request,as I had gotten one free credit score,just forgot the site,I was given the runaround and then got lots of email ALERTS from their site re. my credit. I called and called and received so much static I could not believe it. I finally gave up in despair!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I haven't fallen for the fake sites but I've been turned down by Trans Union for a free report every time I've tried since the program started, even when forced to call them they refuse it. They always say there's a problem with my info but it is all completely accurate. Had no problem with Experian and Equifax.

Recently, I checked my annual credit report. TransUnion had my birthday wrong, but obviously, that's not their mistake, it was my mistake for filling in 1/1/60 in stead of my real birth day roughly 13 years later. Correction of your credit report is not possible online, so I went paper mail.

A couple of weeks later, I received my corrected report, so I was happy. However, another week later, I got another letter from TransUnion, asking for more info, without stating what they needed it for. And another letter came, so me, but with an O in my name in stead of a D. TransUnion told me they could not find my credit report, they said.

COnfused, I called TransUnion, and asked them what was up with all those letters. I was assured nothing was wrong and that my birthday was corrected, and no other extra reports had been send out. Oh, and if I wanted their 'free' credit monitoring service (for one month, with a subscription etc). Then I asked why I should not worry when I get random letters from them, the lady answered again that no reports had been send, so I need not worry. Oh, and if I wanted their 'free' credit monitoring service (for one month, with a subscription etc). I asked if she could explain to me why those letters had been sent and she said there had been an electronic request. Oh, and if I wanted their 'free' credit monitoring service (for one month, with a subscription etc). I asked when and how, since I certainly had not made the request. She didn't know, but I did not need to worry... etc free credit monitoring etc. I argued that something you need to cancel for it to be free isn't really free, and she said that was 'my opinion'.

By now, it was very clear the lady was not happy with my questions, but she would not give straight answers. She only wanted to 'give/sell' me my 'free' month of credit reporting.

I suspected, but now I am sure from this experience. This credit system is broken, it can't be fixed, and apparently nobody in charge seems to care.

I believe a fix isn't even that hard to make. You just need to incorporate accountability in the system, by giving people whose information is registred with the credit bureaus free and easy access to ALL information that is collected about them. The accountability can come by compensating people that report errors at corporate rates. I.e. $75 for each letter they need to send, and an extra $25 for each document they need to show to the credit bureaus to correct the mistake. In my case that would have been $125 for a letter and two copies of my SSN and drivers' license.

One way to avoid unintended charges is to use virtual credit card numbers that have a time and/or dollar limit. Both of my credit card companies offer them as a way to "stay safe" with online purchases. Then the monitoring companies can't charge more than you are willing to spend.

I think the government should enforce the LAW, amke it easier for consumers to get the reports and disallow these corporations from tricking consumers. They make a fortune off our information already. I think everytime they share/sell "OUR" information we should get part of the profit. Consumers should also be allowed to report big business and credit companies for overcharging. I went to pay off my credit cards and the company Disc raised my fixed interest rate of 2% to 18% because they said since i was paying off my card I am a credit risk....Meaning that if everyone one paid off their cards tehy would go out of business...Hrmm I paid them off and closed my account what a scam

Just another reason that it's important for people to read the fine print. Regardless of any shady practices, most of these sites clearly outline what you're getting, what it costs, etc. They ask for your credit card #. That should be your first eye opener as the consumer. It's not free if you have to give them your credit card. A lot of these services are helpful and many offer a 30-day free trial (which it is up to you to cancel) I use mycreditkeeper.com, it's less than $10 a month (affiliated with equifax) and I get to see what's going on with my credit. I don't like the idea of these places being misleading on purpose, but people just need to be a little more aware of what they're doing. This column seems to routinely blame businesses for things that consumers could easily prevent if they just read whatever they were signing.

I AM NOT IN THE 6TH GRADE ...!

If a person takes the time to actually read the returned searchs for the FREE CREDIT REPORT ..everything you reported on becomes a mute point !!!

I don't think the FreeCreditReport.com-type sites are so unclear, and if people (like me) who sign up just for the credit score, then we should be responsible for reading the fine print as that's not what a free trial is truly all about. But that brings us to a better question: why do I have to pay (besides when shopping for a mortgage) for MY credit score? I think the argument is that it's not vital to know the actual number, what's vital is that you know what's in the report. But my score is my score, and it's comforting to know whether or not I can apply for a car loan right now. Not only comforting, but can save me a lot of time if I go through the process and then can't get a good loan. Congress should mandate your score comes with your free report from each bureau.

This article is right on. Personally I request one credit report once every 4 months. This is ample protection againts idenity theft. I can never remember the "real" free website to get my report, and often find myself spending 30 min filtering through all the garbage out there to find out my information. Thank you for making people aware of the dirty tactics of pricy services and false domain names.

I just tried to use the AnnualCreditReport.com and in the mass of info. their is a statement that, once again, in order to receive your credit score there will be a fee. WHAT GIVES??????????? I used some site (I forgot) several years ago and received the print outs, and my credit score with no problem. How about a phone number?

The legitimate free credit report can also be ijpossible to obtain (thanks to Experian) because I am required to give the account number of a "transitional" mortgage account (mortgages are often bought and sold a number of times without your knowledge) in order to apply. I never knew the number and paid no payments to the company, which is now out of business. So,no free credit report. Before I retired, I worked in banking and Eperian frequently encouraged banks to report marginal or false information, such as reporting bank errors even though the customer was not at fault and frequently had no knowledge of the error. These are almost impossible to remove from your record, but can cause a great deal of trouble. On paper this makes Experian appear to have more "adverse" information than other services. These people are all crooks and Congress should much more tightly regulate the industry!

This isn't the only way credit bureaus get to consumers. Let's discuss how they arrive at a credit score! From my research, I've never been able to determine what actually "drives" the score. Shouldn't there be clear and consise guidelines published by the credit bureaus and made available to consumers. Can you investiage this?

I want to know why when something goes on your credit
report such as a new credit inquiry your score goes down MORE then when a credit inquiry comes off. It makes absolutly no sence. These three credit agencys practices should be monitored much mor then they are.
THEY DO EFFECT OUR LIVES IN SO MANY WAYS

It makes me feel good that dishonest companies like this are in charge of our data. I would like the right to choose which companies can keep and use my data. Congress are you listening?

I want to know why when something goes on your credit
report such as a new credit inquiry your score goes down MORE then when a credit inquiry comes off. It makes absolutly no sence. These three credit agencys practices should be monitored much mor then they are.
THEY DO EFFECT OUR LIVES IN SO MANY WAYS

Credit bureaus are a scam. I have been fighting illegal and fraudulent information on my credit report for over a year now and the bureaus refuse to remove it. I am sooooo tired of this b.s.!

So, where do I go to get the "free" report promised by the Gov't?
Thanks.
B. Sanders

I have gotten my free credit report from AnnualCreditReport.com twice now, once a year. I have gotten Equifax and TransUnion with no problem, but I am never able to get Experion's report, I try and always get a message stating that I will need to mail a request for the report or to go to their website and try again. They just wont give my report to me for free, so I have no faith in what they would have there anyway.

I think Congress should come down on these sites hard and fast. I too have experienced this. I tried to order one from all three bureaus with the "FREE SCORE" only to find it not so. This was two months ago and Im still waiting. I have had some identiy theft and Im still fighting the bureaus, they are not reporting it.. My score has dropped over 174 points in 9 months and I have purchased nothing. I have been turned down twice for auto insurance and I have not had a traffic infraction for over 15 yrs or any accidents in over 20 years... GO FIGURE.. MJ Friedley

i had signed up fpr a fee credit report from free credit report.com. i didn't read the fine print close enough and realized that for the last six months the have been deducting 12.95 a month from my ccount since febuary. as soon as i realized it i canceled . they still tryed to push me towards a smaller monthly service. that's a shame that they have to still have to try to milk the consumer of there money for something that they advertise for free. they're website should be call freecreditreportunlessyoudon'tcatchthesmallprint.com

-as usual it seems that nothing is really free, from the teaser ads esp for freecreditreoprt, until recently they never mentioned that you had to subscribe to a service with monthly fees. Also why pay for a credit score if it not the number used by big business ?

Why does a car insurance company need your credit report anyway ? Will they tell you how many times a complaint was entered against them in the state you are insuring your auot in ? PLus the process of each insurer obtaining your credit report drives down your so-called score.

I attempted to get this free report approx. 4mos ago. The process is very misleading,and borders on being as dishonest as the identy thieves I am trying to control.

Why, would anyone be surprised at this? This is nothing more than an extension of the big banks with the help of their cronies in congress in association with FICO (you know, those dirty little bas----s that created the FICO score) to screw the American public. Wake up people, this is the credit score game perpetrated on all Americans to drive up the cost of everything you buy & they don't care one damm thing about you. The whole credit scoring system is a farse, but a way of life as it now hits you on your ability to buy insurance, get a job, etc. They have everyone of us right where they want us & there is nothing that can be done about it.

I dont see what the problem is. I used freecreditreport.com and if people would take a couple minutes to read the terms and conditions, it explains that after 30 days, you will be charged 30 bucks a month. So I marked the date, called after 29 days and had the service cancelled, and that was the end of it. If it has come to the point that people are too lazy to make a phone call that is worth $30 bucks a month and require a web link to do so...well maybe they deserve to be tricked. More power to the man that can sell an item that another man is giving away for free.

Experian just ripped me off with one of their free-credit reports and I have appealed to get my money back but to no success. This caused my account to overdraft as well. How do I get my money back for this honest mistake?

Selling our personal information to ourselves should not be allowed or tolerated, its a scam! Ive worked very hard in keeping my credit history alive and strong, when money gets tight things tend to slip up a little bit, it can be hard enough just to get by let alone have to pay additional costs to be responsible. My fiance who is in the mortgage industry and is very adament about keeping us up on our scores, had signed us up for FreeCreditReport.com at one point and I found that the scores were vastly different from that of AnnualCreditReport.com and my copy of the report from when we refinaced our home.

I got suckered into this scam and when i tried to cancel the subscription i could not find a legitimate phone number to call and cancel.I went to my bank and they gave me the number to call. I actually was able to talk to a real person and was able to cancel.

I had my MSN email address for over 3 years without getting any SPAM. Within a few hours of using freecreditreport.com I started receiving SPAM for everything from insurance to sex enhancements. I felt violated and have been dealing with having to clear my inbox of SPAM everyday.

Yes, we are entitled to a 'free' report every year, which means you'll only catch the mistakes once a year. By having the Identity Guard service, I'm able to catch mistakes and resolve them quickly. I was too trusting and never checked my reports, until I decided to buy a house. There were tons of mistakes and I am still fixing them, six months later. Everyone makes mistakes, but I'd rather not pay for them. Those mistakes would have cost me thousands of dollars, since I would have a higher interest rate.

freecreditreport.com has different credit scores than the "official" site I pull credit reports from. I am a mortgage broker and a client pulled their credit report from freecreditreport.com and it was 750 and rated "C" and when I pullled it through all three repositories, it was 550 which is either a D- or an F+ Congress needs to get on this and make the scores generated through these multitude of places you can get a credit report the same as the "official" scores generated by Equifax, TransUnion and Experian.

Marketing/Advertising, Branding, Fishing, Bait & Switch; Business gone wild. The consumer attempting to be responsible is getting hit from both sides. Those who state the market forces will work regarding personal finance tracking need to understand personal information should not be considered a commodity to be traded. This aspect of the industry has created the the problem of identity theft.

I applied for the annual credit report and found the experience very frustrating. MSN and the experts tell us that we are ultimately responsible for our credit report accuracy and to not sign away our rights, yet before I could even get a copy of my free credit report I had to agree to arbitration if any discrepancies were noted and the issue could not be resolved. How am I now supposed to legally correct a discrepancy? This doesn't seem too free to me especially when this is supposedly my credit history and score. I believe these institutions should be accountable for the credit report accuracy and they should be regulated since they are able to affect everyones livelyhood.

These company should thank their lucky star that Judge Roy Pearson, the D.C. judge who sued his dry cleaners for $67 million, isn't one of the people who sent for their free credit report.

You did not address issues related to failure to successfully complete the onlline transaction. After entering my private info - the Web site fails to confirm and complete the transaction. Then I worry that my private info has been compromised and that my effort to get the report will be erroneously reported as haveing received my "annual free report".

Also, many car insurance companies use Checkpoint which contains lots of out of date and erroneous data. It's really hard to get a copy of that report, although the law requires it if it was used in a decision. It's web site repeatedly fails to complete the transaction, and its voice-activated telephone system can't understand my name correctly--even when spelled out -- but wants to "proceed" with the phone transaction anyway?

This is a typical problem that the US Congress and the Bush Administration are bought by the special interests. The special interests are exploiting Americans. We need people like you (the media) to uncover those dirty cecrets between the US Congress and special interests. Whether they are Republicans or Democrats, we will vote them out. To do that, we need your helps to expose them.

THE INTERNET IS BASICALLY UNSAFE. NEVER AGAIN WILL I USE THE INTERNET FOR ANY BUSINESS TRANSACTIONS.

THIS IS ANOTHER EXAMPLE OF CROOKS PREYING ON FOLKS THAT DO NOT KNOW OR UNDERSTAND WHAT THEY ARE DOING.

THE CROOKS HAVE KILLED THE GOLDEN GOOSE, CONGRESS, IMPOTENT, WILL DO NOTHING.

The use of "FREE" is a scam when it is a lie, and our government of the people is doing nothing to protect us! As usual.

Why should I pay for something that is legally mine.Doesn't make sense.There is always someone around the corner trying to steal your money.

Once again the consumer is being held hostage by Corporate America and our own Government. Credit reports and scores have been made an essential part of the financial well being of a consumer yet we don't have continuous free access to our own credit information - WHY?. Every loan department credit card, bank, lender, retailer, etc can use this "mysterious" data against us but we only have the right to one free viewing from one of 3 credit bureaus annually??? Ever notice also how the score you receive and the one corporate America receives are different. I've been told that different businesses use different criteria for computing the score, etc. If this data is being used against us then we consuumers have a right to it - FREELY - when ever we need it. This is still America isn't it???? These credit companies have made a mockery out of the whole free credit report business and should be held accountable. I found out the hard way that a company simply making an inquiry as to your credit score, lowers your credit score.

WHO came up with this whole scheme of credit scores and reports and why are we consumers held accountable for data, formulas and behind the scenes manipulations that we have no knowledge about or control over? Why do you ONLY seem to find out about this stuff when you get denied zero percent financing or the lower interest rate because your score is never "good enough"

Its all just another method of the obscenely rich corporations controlling the multitudes - the same multitudes who they blame for not spending enough on consumer goods when their profits are down

I was victim to several random charges appearing on my bank statement every month after atempting to get my free credit report. I emailed the companies telling them to refund my money otherwise I would report them to my bank and contact my lawyer. Just the threat made both companies refund 100% of my money within 2 days. That is advice to anyone who falls victim to these scams.

DID YOU KNOW THAT THE 3 ALSO SELL YOUR INFORMATION TO ANYONE WHO WANTS TO BUY IT, YOU CAN BUY "TRIGGERS", FOR EXAMPLE WHEN YOU HAVE A MORTGAGE COMPANY OR BANK RUN YOUR CREDIT, IF THE REST OF YOUR DEBTS AND INFO PICKED BUY THE BUYERS..STATE, AMOUNT OF DEBT AND IT SHOW THE AMOUNT ON THE REPORT ABOUT YOU,IS A MATCH THEN IT IS SOLD TO LEAD COMPANIES AND THEY SELL THEM TO MORTGAGE COMPANIES AS LEADS OR OTHER MORTGAGE COMPANIES BUY THEM DIRECTLY, SO YOUR PERSONNAL INFO IS OUT FOR EVERYONE TO BUY AND THEN RESOLD TO MUTILPLE PEOPLE WHO THEN CALL YOU NIGHT AND DAY FOREVER.THANKS FOR THE HELP TUC EFX AND XPN

I too have used annualcreditreport.com and received 2 of my three reports. I am unable to get a report from TransUnion. The web request does not pass security, and when I called their number I was promised a report in the mail but it never showed up.

The credit shark is alive...

A FICO score is not nessicary for home lending, you just need to find an old school broker that still practices "MANUAL UNDERWRITING," its what they they did back in the day before Fair Isaac. (FICO has only been around since the 80's)

Yet anouther reason why I am shooting for a ZERO credit score (no accounts open for 7 years)

Congress should be stepping in and protecting the citizen from unscruplous business practices. These low life profiteers need to be stopped because they won't police their own industry without intervention. Would it be in theri best interest to clean things up now and avoid government intervention or should they make as much money as they can untill the government steps in to slap their hands.

The President needs to appoint Federal Trade Commission representatives with the political courage to take on the Credit Reporting agencies. These companies have way too much power on the Hill and frankly too much sway at the FTC, which is supposed to regulate them. It is time to get tough on unfair and deceptive trade practices.

This is obviously dishonest. What they need is a giant lawsuit with a lot of publicity flung at them... C'mon America, you sue over everything else, lol. Yeah, so the lawsuit thing really won't happen, but this is dishonest and I really don't want to have to live with this when I actually have credit. Maybe I'll just pay for everything in cash, like the bad guy in those obnoxious Visa commercials. Urgh, false advertising disgusts me. And it is false advertising.

As usual, another company (or companies) have attorneys on staff that wait for Congress to pass a law, so they can immediately sit down and have a meeting where they all get together and say "Ok, Congress just passed this law. How can we COMPLETELY ignore it, and figure out a way to make the consumer PAY for something that is supposed to be FREE!??"

In addition to 'free credit reports', watch out for so-called free home-mortgage lending quotes, especially from LendingTree.com. Although advertised on NPR and other reputable outlets, we found out that once one applies to receive competing loan offers through LendingTree, one is automatically enrolled in their 'credit monitoring service', at a cost of $12 a month. The real catch is cancelling this service (something we haven't been able to do yet), because when one calls the phone number provided, one is informed that the call is being transferred to some location in the Caribbean, where "international long distance rates" apply (which are already infamously exorbitant).
Please watch out for this scam and inform others!!! When it was all said and done, we didn't even go with the one offer we did get through them. Lendingtree's motto should be "when banks compete, you get charged indefinitely."

Which is the 'all but one' free credit report offer which is totally cost-free?

soon, the chips will be in all our necks..... not only do these companies not have the right to withhold "our" information from us, what right does the GOVERNMENT have to it?!?!?!? NONE! They are completely complicit in gathering info about us- what we buy, what we do, how much moola we have in the bank, soley for control of the masses in the guise of "homeland (HA!) security" and soon that chip will have all the info encoded so when you walk into a store you're scanned, and if you don't have enough "credit" or BAD credit you won't be allowed to even shop there. (not an original idea here- JUST a warning..........) and another thing- they could already be putting chips in us with "flu" shots, or thru Diet Coke nanobots for all i know- it's ALL about control of the masses- "you will do our bidding". They Live......

Here's a problem some other smay have encountered: I signed up for Equifax's 3-in-1 Gold Credit Watch with Credit Score Monitoring, and I have proof of using my correct name and information, ss # etc., and they are still watching the wrong identity (someone else's social security number)! I've been on the phone and emailing them several times a month for six months now with all the correct information, and it still hasn't been fixed! They actually told me it is my fault, and I am not who I say I am. Meanwhile, all my credit history has been deleted and my ss number has been changed, and my name is spelled wrong and I STILL HAVE TO PAY THAT $12.95 PER MONTH FOR THEIR "PROTECTION"!!! Now my credit score is in the tubes, my credit history is shot, my credit card companies are cancelling my cards or decreasing my limits left and right, and I am scared I am going to go out of business due to lack of credit. Oh yeah, I have to pay every month AGAIN to check and see if the problems have been fixed, but of course, they haven't. To Date: My free credit report and trying to fix it: about $470.00. Not to mention the increasing interest rates due to changing addresses and histories. (That's just Equifax) I saved all documentation for proof, and will keep trying, I guess. I just don't know what else to do.

there was few good comments for a credit report service ,but
lots bad comments about how unfair those so called free credit report sites. majority has won so let`s pass our own bill and give them a virus.

If you put a 90 day fraud alert on your credit, they give you a free look at your credit report.

All of the three credit reporting companies indulge in predatory business practices, of the three, Trans Union is by far the worst. Some years ago when I found incorrect information on reports from all three companies. I had no problem with either Experian or Equifax in verifying and correcting that information. Trans Union only corrected it only after my attorney threatened them with a lawsuit. You will also find that Trans Union's website is more confusing and difficult to navigate than the other two. The information that these companies is providing is not theirs, it belongs to the person that is the subject of the report. We regularly obtain our free reports annually from all three by making a note on our kitchen calender with the dates spaced four months apart, one date for each company, and around that date we each obtain one report from that one company, in this way we are sure to keep tabs on OUR information from all three companies.

I recently viewed my credit report. I must have went 10 to 20 websites that insisted you subscribe with your credit card for a free trial. Finally I subscribe to True Credit (Transunion). After a few days I went to cancel it, there is no link or email address anywhere on their website to cancel. I finally found a number, I spent 20 minutes arguing with a rep to cancel it. He kept going on and on try to sell me services and convince me not cancel. Finally I succeeded, I will never do that again. And of course like any other company the CS Rep could barely speak english!

I went to check out freecreditreport.com. I signed up on July 11 and did not get to access the site via a snail-mailed code until July 22--you do NOT get instant access, and the "30-day Free Trial" starts from the sign-up date, not the access date. In any event, I logged on and found that only one credit report was there--experian, which I already had thanks to my rejected credit card application (the reason I wanted to check out all my reports in the first place).

The other two reports were available--for $40. Note that this is more expensive than to just go directly to the other websites.

Well, the only way to cancel is to call and 800 number. "Press 1 if you would like to cancel your membership." How's that for a bad sign--option one is to cancel. Well, I pressed one and waited for ten minutes listening to a SINGLE classical song badly out of tune that just kept repeating over and over again. It's like they want you to hang up. So I did.

Then I called back and hit the option to add more features to my plan or something like that and got a customer service representative in a little less than 30 seconds. She asked what I would like to know. I said "How long is the wait to cancel my membership? It's been almost fifteen minutes." Well, after a pause she said that she wasn't sure and that she could cancel my membership for me. Tada! I asked about confirmation for the cancellation--if it would be delivered by mail or e-mail--and she said neither, but followed up immediately with her name and employee ID number before I could even ask.

So, as usual, nothing is free. Unlike some others I did read the small print when I signed up and followed proper cancellation policy. They don't make it convenient, but it can be done.

Have you ever tried calling some of them? Well, guess what! they keep trying to get you to go back to their website rathe than using the phone so that they can trick you into the scam of signing up for a fee. Their websites are cdesigned so that you end up signing up for a fee or else you won't get the free credit report. Which in realty is not going to be free anyway. Unbeliveable!!!

When is the general public going to realize that absolutely nothing is free!!!These company's are nothing more than legalized theft rings and should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law!Unfortunately,the lawmakers and the lobbyist's work together to scam hard working Americans and in the process line their pockets.Angry in Albany

WHY THREE CREDIT REPORTING COMPANIES. What would happen if a business or corporation kept 3 sets of books?? Have you every tried to clean up your credit report and deal with all three. It takes months, years back and forth. It is time for Congress and the FTC to mandate only one per customer credit buueau. It can be assigned by the persons SS number and zip code. If you re-locate a simple click of the computer key can transfer the info. Now I have heard there may be a fourth credit bureau. How about Congress taking action and do something for the consumer ie; taxpayer!!!!!!!

I never figure out why I have pay to to see myself's information, and only once in a year? And these bureaus who are making money out of my information cannot even make sure the data is correct! This is a totally messup of the ownership and accountability!

it seems everyone has access to my credit report except me

After being told by my mortgage broker that I have no credit history with any of three bureaus, I tried AnnualCreditReport.com because I have been building my credit history since 2005. It came out that all of three bureau websites cannot identify me. I sent copies of my ID, W-2 and reference letters from my bank to these three bureaus and requested them to update my credit history. The problem then was that I could not see my free annual reports because I had already requested them. So I tried TrueCredit.com, which ran by TransUnion, to see my credit history before applying for a mortgage. Everything else appeared right in TrueCredit's reports, except Equifax report marked my history payment as Unknown and it wasnot updated since 2006. At the same time I had received two credit reports (paper form) from each of TransUnion and Experian. I was stunned so I called TransUnion and was told that I had two files in the system, i.e. two credit names associated with one SSN. Mind you that TrueCredit reports, which I have to pay $14.99/month to see, don't show this fact. I called TrueCredit for helping but was told to contact 3 bureaus directly. I then mailed my request of merging these two files as one. TransUnion and Experian acted fast, but not Equifax. You know that in order to talk to Equifax customer service you will have to have their confirmation number, i.e. have to pay in order to see your credit report and get the number of that report. So I paid. Instead of merging my files and updating my credit history, they changed my name from right to wrong. Another mail request was sent and this time Equifax changed my name from wrong to terrible wrong. Another request was sent along with hours talking on the phone to explain that Equifax didn't fix my problem right. In total, I had to pay 3 months for TrueCredit's service and 2 months for Equifax's service in order to fix their problems, and hours and hours on cellphone and certificate mail stamps.
There's some funny moments (I am being sarcastic) were when I was asked by Equifax customer services: "Ma'am, please tell me your name?" - "Which name? The wrong you have in your system or my real name?" I said.

If a person has bad credit, why should they be denied a job? It seems to me someone should be pleased that they will have income to try to improve their situation. No job means no way to pay their bills--which means their credit stays bad. This just discourages people.

"Free" credit reports that aren't free (but are available to government and big business for purposes of withholding credit and doing "background checks"), microchipping of human beings for "security" purposes, "weapons of mass destruction" that don't exist but are used as a pretense for destroying sovereign nations so that megacorporations like Halliburton can make billions via no-bid contracts to "rebuild" them (and hundreds of thousands die). . .ideas like feudalism, and even slavery, haven't gone away. They're still in practice, but the methods of implementation have been refined thanks to technology. . .you no longer work with a whip at your back, you just work with the specter of starvation and homelessness in your future if you don't conform to what the power structure demands of you. Once people begin to see the links between all these things and how it's all connected to perpetuating the privileges of only a few families around the globe, and actually begin to do something about it, things will change. Until then, it's all just the same old story. Only the tools of oppression and manipulation have changed, and not much else.

Actually, I belong to FreeCreditReport.com (I pay for the $12.95 monthly fee of credit monitoring) and I pay only $24.95 for the really in-depth 3 credit bureaus credit report and score. If I only want my regular Experian report and score, it truly is FREE. And I don't have to be paying for the monitoring service to get it FREE. As a result, some of the information in the above article is inaccurate. And I can access my free report and score at any time.

Write your congressmen. This whole credit report thing is nothing but a scam. It galls me that these and other companies can sell our personal information to alomost anyone who asks (the EASIEST in-road for identity theives!), then have the nerve to force us to "buy back" OUR OWN information. They are in the business of selling your information; information THEY DO NOT PAY A DIME TO COLLECT. They should be PAYING US to aquire OUR infomation, not the other way around. I ask; "Where is my cut!". And why the h-e-doubletoohpicks do we need THREE DIFFERENT leeches sucking on our souls? Each agency has differnt information, thus making each one invalid on its own merit. One-by-one they are all lies. What's the point? This is a seriously FLAWED arangement that negatively affects those it was meant (if you wish to believe it) to serve. It is the most vile and egregious form of pure Capitalism (think Al-Queda).

The Gov. needs to create their own credit based system and eliminate the private parties.

The one thing we as consumers need be aware of is that when one calls for techincal assistance or help of any type; "THEY", ask for your SS# or credit card # and "THEY" are in India, Pakistan or Philippine. Your credit issue is good O'USA; this could be the reason nothing ever get properly fixed/done!

I dropped TrueCredit/Privacy Matters after one year of paying $29.95/mo. and when I went on line and tried to get a free report; the Credit Agencies would not accept my request and Privacy Matters would direct me to TrueCredit and vise, versa. So I dropped them like a "hot rock".

I find it incredible that the people who supposedly represent us can't ever do anything that is simple and works well for the avg citizen; and that we citizens have to put up with it.

If there was ever case for pay for performance--this is where it should start.

Tom

I was "fooled" into thinking I was getting a free credit report until I saw a monthly charge for triple advantage. Turns out this was something I "subscribed" to when I got my "free" credit report. This site is affilitated with Experian. I tried several times to cancel my subscritpion via telephone and e-mail and still monthly charges were being billed to my account. Finally, I had to call Experian direct to get the charges stopped.

These reports aren't worth anything when applying for loans becasue this is NOT the same report and credit score that is used by banks .etc to make loan decisions.

From now on, I will defintely be checking every single item in the terms and conditions!

FreeCreditReport.com has been scamming and getting away with it for years.

I agree with accountability,, I recently tried to get a false report removed from my credit report with transunion, one that I corrected and fixed over 2 years ago, then recently found out it is still on my credit report as delinquent. I phoned/emailed the agency which is the child support enforcement agency in maryland, a government agency, and they agreed that my obligation had been taken care of 2 years ago, and even sent me a letter stating I was current and had no past due. BUT, it is not their responsibility to simply update the credit bureaus, I
have to file a dispute form with the credit bureau,
which is going to cost money for something I have no
control of, and which is not my error.
Why isn't the reporting agency required to and held
to correcting their own reports,,,, oh thats right
they are required to,, its just not enforced.
And even our own government can get away with false
reporting, and no accountability.
I have emailed the governor, the bureau, and other
agencies, only getting a big run around.

I agree, why is FICO necessary when buying auto insurance? I think the whole system is a scam. Who asked them to keep a record of my buying history anyway? We are at the mercy of data entry which is more than likely taking place off-shore for pennies a day.

Add me to the list of those who signed up at freecreditreport.com for my "free credit report" and had $12.95 deducted from my bank account monthly. I called and cancelled, explaining to the woman on the other end that while $12.95 was a good deal for all the services they were providing, I didn't appreciate them sticking it in to the fine print to trick people into signing up. It's one of the oldest marketing tricks in the book, playing off of people's laziness. They knew at least 1/4 of the people wouldn't bother cancelling because $12.95 is a nominal fee to most people. Sneaky but sadly legal. If they wouldn't have slid it into the fine print I definitely wouldn't have cancelled - it was a good deal for such a small fee. Where did all the honest companies go?

To get my credit report, I asked the receptionist at a car dealership, who opened up a program on her computer, typed in my social, and printed it right out for me. Hope she didn't get fired.

I used one of these so called "free credit report sites" on my annual check of my record. One thing i've got was a charge on my credit card that automatically signed me up for a credit monitoring crap that i did not need ($24-95), and also an additional bougus fee of 1.00 for another service that i did not requested. I called them up immediatelly after receiving my credit card statement a month later. I was told that the charge was not refundable, and that I had only three days to cancel their membership from the day that I got on line. This is how they get you, your credit card statement gets delivered to you once a month, and they charge you credit card three days after you made the contact. Even though this was a membership that I never agreed to begin with, they continued to charge me for two months, and I refuse to pay the second month. I called my credit card company and told them that this was a bougus charge, and that they shoud not charge anything to my credit card without first giving me a call. Otherwise I would stop using my credit card, and even threten to cancel my credit card.
I was able to get them off my credit card then, but to this day I still get the $1.00 charge to my credit card every month for the second service that i am not sure what it is. Have not pay them the three dollars, so far, and do not intent to. Word to the wise, If you keep a good practice of paying your bill on time, and never get behind, you really do not need a credit score. Especially from one of these scam companies that promise your prtotection, when in reality all they want is to rob you blind.

Just want to sum my previous long post: (1) AnnualCredit Report is not helpful in my situation: was unable to identify me and then had 2 files associated with my SSN in each of 3 bureaus. (2) TrueCredit was not helpful in filing disputes, they refuse to help. Yesterday a TrueCredit customer service said that TrueCredit could help with that, only after I said that I wanted to cancel my membership with them. (3)Equifax is such a pain in the neck. You cannot get their customer service phone number unless you pay them to get your credit report. In my case, instead of merging my 2 files as 1, they changed my name from right to wrong, and to terribly wrong.
Lucky me that my two files were still mine as everything was similar except the name on these files.

What bugs me is that Transunion has site call TrueCredit dot com. Which is a monitoring service like the rest. However, when I called to get my free report. I found myself giving personal information to someone in Costa Rica... COSTA RICA. give me a break.

I feel like I should be able to get a free credit report and score 12 times a day, if I want. The credit agencies can have a look at it when they want. Why can't I?

Bush Administration and US Congress are supposed to protect us, US citizens, but they are more concerned with protecting Iraqis and people around the world, while enriching themselves AND their contributors any way they can. Pres. Bush can allocate more money for for some disaster relief to look good, but then where does the money go? - mostly to his own supporters and cumbs to the actual victims. Why shouldn't the fine print be made BOLD PRINT?

I long ago tried free credit report.com. Taking my information they finally ask for my credit card number. At that point I hung up the phone. Why would they need a credit card fore free credit report? Dumb butts. JCL.

please people,
there is no such thing as "free". sometimes you can something of value without pay money, but that usually involves knowledge and TIME, which is the same as money.
"there's no such thing as a free lunch". saying as old as time doesn't hang around this long by being wrong.
when someone says they have something for you for "free", hangup, delete, logoff, or freakin run.

I too, after several years of trying, have never managed to get a report from Trans Union. What is the decline/send rate for requested credit reports, and how do the 3 services compare. Is there a way of knowing?

People can say that anyone not reading the fine print deserves what they get. However, my husband & I signed up for the "free" report from FreeCreditReport.com last month, having read the fine print & knowing full well we would have to pay the fees or cancel. When the time came to cancel a few days ago, my husband spent over 30 minutes on the phone on a phone tree just trying to get through to Experian to cancel the service. He finally gave up in frustration, not being able to get through to anyone or even a system where he could automatically get the report monitoring canceled. So, even if you read the fine print and make a calculated decision, they still scam the money out of you by making it next to impossible to cancel!

I went to AnnualCreditReport.com yesterday and was about to get all 3 of my credit reports with no hitch. All you need to do to avoid the additional products that the credit repositories offer is to say no to their overtures. Really quite easy to do if you take the time to read.

Dirtbags. period........... go to the Correct site
_ AnnualCreditReport.com _ it's what Congress passed for anyone smart and ready to do it right.
period...........

The credit montoring options listed in this artical is a joke. I ordered new checks on line and was given the option to obtain service for this for only $5.00 a year. And when it happens they will restor my credit and keep monitoring it for any more change.

Well I get my two reports online then I download the paperwork and send it off for the 3rd to come in the mail and when it gets to the end where they want you to buy the extended reports I just ignore it, I have already printed off my paperwork I needed, Since having my identity stolen I like to be on top. And you see the difference in the 3 one has me with two different versions on my SS number and the varations on my name, I feel that section is the most important to pay attention to when your identity has been stolen. And I agree with that one person when they are telling you what you have put down is wrong and you know it's correct...that is buggy,you say whoever stole my identity now has really screwed things up to where their version is the correct one. I have the fraud allert put on my reports. so now when some one was trying to buy a Dell computer with my info 2 years later Dell had to call me and see if it was true, I said absoutley not and they sent me a form I had to fill out and get notarized saying I was not that person,needless to say the crook did not get their computer system! Just stay vigilant,read the fine print and never give out your credit card info up front to see a report,you get a site like that,rack your brain hard and say now what was the name of the real site, yeah it starts with annual and there is no free in the address. yes annualcreditreport.com!!

Not spelling correctly diminishes your credibility. If you are not from the USA please refrain from commenting on our policies (excepting of course, members of the military). Religious references will make you sound like you're nuts. Of course, the only real solution to the credit report is to maintain rotten credit and nobody will steal your identity (nuts, eh?).

I firmly believe congress should be doing more to protect our rights when it comes to the credit bureaus. I have information on my report related to my mother from over ten years ago that the bureaus refuse to remove. We don't share the same name and haven't shared the same address since I was 11. I want to know why congress allows the bureaus to update the scores and any "adverse" information immediately yet it takes anywhere between 3 months to a year to have it removed if it is incorrect. It is my opinion we should all pose this question to our state Senators and Congressional representatives.

After reading the majority of these comments, I have to ask.... "Is this your first day here in america?" We live in a capitalist society folks, this is nothing new. If your mommy and daddy didn't already tell you, there is no such thing as a free lunch. So many people have commented here have commented about how it is unfare that they are being charged for a service that the government has ruled is to be free. Did you forget this is the same governmnet that will put you in jail if you don't pay taxes, the same taxes that are in violation of our constitution.
Now that we are clear on what "Free" means. lets look at what the fees actually get you. I subscribe to a Free credit report website. I pay $12 per month for credit monitoring. Anytime anyone accesses my credit information for any reason I am notified. in the 12 months I have been a member I have avoided indentity thieft twice as a direct result of being notified as soon as an application for credit in my name was made. Now does this mean that no one can ever steal my id, absolutely not. But just because I pay for monthly monitoring of my home alarm system, does that mean my home can never be burglarized, absolutely not. It just reduces the chances and it makes it more difficult for someone to steal from me. Lets not forget thieves are lazy, or they wouldn't be thieves in the first place. So I make myself as difficult a target as possible and most of the time the thief moves past me in search of an easier target. Be a smart consumer and be realistic before signing up for any service. Let the buyer be ware. Protect yourself and be smart when shopping for anything.

I have been trying to get my "free" credit report from Experian and each time I receive a message saying I've already received my report!?! On the other hand, do you know that nowadays your credit report (and score) is used to get a job? an apartment? Oh yeah, it's used in every way possible by companies wanting to charge you more and this is the excuse they use "you're a credit risk." I am the victim of identity theft and have been asking the credit bureaus to remove items from my report because they do not belong to me. I have written the collection companies and every once in a while, an item is removed only to reappear a few months later through a different collection agency. I am a hard working single mom and it seems I am on the road to ruin. There are four walls around me and I can't climb out :(

As long as lazy American continue to lead around by the nose these crooks, Bank fees to use my own money, Government, Oh my God, Post Office, Credit Bureaus, and on and on. Keep voting for these incompetents and accepting All the lies, Then too bad, so Sad. Wake up America!!!

There is no such thing as "free" on the internet, there are always strings attached, expensive strings!

Lawyers, lawyers, lawyers. Look at who is behind this...lawyers are. They constantly think of ways to screw the middle and lower income people. Do the rich worry about their credit? No way. But when the average working American needs their credit reviewed, sleazy scummy lawyers think of ways to create loop holes and use smoke & mirrors to prey on the unsuspecting. How much money last year was charged for "free credit reports?" Let's face it, the American way is screwing the lowest guy on the totem pole and then the next guy up and so forth. Big businesses, backed by the conservatives, have made a mockery out of the old phrase, "HONSETY IS THE BEST POLICY". Look at the Enron scandal, excessive CEO payments, church groups & pharmaceutical companies. The way to the top is not by being honest anymore, but by lying, cheating and bullshitting. It appears that in America, it is OK to lie, cheat and mislead. Need I say more?

There is no such thing as "free" on the internet, there are always strings attached, expensive strings!

Each year since the AnnualCreditReport site has been in existence, I have tried to obtain my reports. Each year, at least one of the credit reporting agencies says there is a problem with my file and I must write to get it. However, when this happened this year, Equifax would gladly allow me to pay for my report, although I couldn't get it from the free site - stated there was a problem with my report. I also seem to remember seeing something about a class action lawsuit (Equifax only one involved) - didn't pay much attention to it as I've never bought the credit monitoring services.

For the people that are waiting for Congress to do something, Good Luck. Our politicians are all in the pockets of big business, i.e Credit card companies, banks, etc.,etc.,etc.

English is my second language when i was learning it, the word FREE was meant free but in the bussines language free meens fee so i would like the Goverment to bun using the word free in Tv,Rodio and Newspepers comercial at all becouse it is misleading people.

I TOO WAS ALSO RIPPED OFF BY CIC TRIPLE ADVANTAGE AT 12.95 EACH MONTH X'S 2 FOR MY REPORT AND MY HUSBANDS. I TOO CALLED AND ONLY GOT HALF MY MONEY BACK FOR 6 MONTHS. THE ONLY REASON THIS IS HAPPENING IS OUR GOVERMENT IS RUN BY BIG BUSINESS. I PRINTED AND READ EVERY THING AND COULDNT FIND ANY DISCLAMER ABOUT A MONTHLY FEE BEFORE I DID MY CREDIT REPORT

Why not have the government create a bureau of credit fairness and have all the credit reporting companies go by the wayside and have only ONE reporting agency? Seems to me this might be a way out of the FREE (ha ha ha) credit monitoring scheme to get more money out of you.

I remember the phrase "Caveat Emptor" from junior high school. I guess advertising and marketing executives live by that credo because they force us to examine and re-examine our purchases. Which can be a good exercise for those of us who love to impulse buy. Just like voting, we should be researching our purchases before we buy too!

And even more rediculous, once you have gone to the Annual site, you cannot get your report again without paying to see it!!! So there is really no way to get a recent copy of your report if you have alrady gone to the site and gotten your report. They give some BS about "some kind of problem with getting your report" and start the asking for money to go any farther, I really cannot believe we Americans could be treated like some pathetic sheep, being coralled around by some a-holes that WE are stupid enough to allow to run our lives, when will we ever stand up as a collective and tell these people to f off?? We are so consumed with our own small lives, that we let people take advantage of us, and do nothing but piss and moan about it. I feel pathetic, do you??

My HOMEOWNEWRS INSURANCE WENT UP BECAUSE OF MY CREDIT REPORT??? WHAT???? I'VE NEVER HAD A CLAIM IN N10 YEARS...IT STARTED AT 750- TO 1300 TO 1700 NOW 2058..I LIVE IN FLORIDA NEAR ABSOLUTELY NO WATER...AND SOME COLLECTION THING IS ON MY CREDIT REPORT WHICH I CAN'T GET THE NAME OF WHAT IT WAS ..HAVENT' A CLUE...BUT THEY CAN'T GIVE ME A LOWER PROPERTY INSURARANCE BECAUSE OF IT..THE BIT IT!!!! ALL YOU GET ARE PROMPTS WHEN YOU TRY AND CONTACT ANY CREDIT REPORT COMPANY.NO HUMAN BEINGS AVAILABLE..FOR SOMETHING THAT AFFECTS HUMAN BEINGS....IT IS UNFAIR AND TOTALLY INSANE.

All 3 Credit Bureaus are profiting unfairly while failing to provide the consumer with a user-friendly, fully disclosed product. They obviously need to be fined and regulated and provide refunds to all of the consumers that they have defrauded.

I agree with Larissa from Cincinnati, OH & all the rest who are fed up with this whole b.s. credit system!!!! The government is obviously in on it & doesn't give a damn - it's just one more way for them to keep everybody under their crooked little thumbs & the whole damn country is too ate up with Hollywood & all the other irrelevant unrealistic b.s. to get up off their asses & try to change things!! Wake up "We The People" & exercise your freedom of choice before it is further gone than it already is & quit being so damn lazy & complacent!!!!

Bottom line, our Government should pass a law that would fine the creditors big money for not reporting correctly on our credit reports. Example if your late on a payment the creditor can post that next month that your 30 days late, but when you pay off a past debt the creditor says they will let all 3 credit reporting companies and it will be changed in 60 to 90 days and then it isn't changed and still is reporting derogitory. The government needs to step in and fine them 10,000 or more each time this happens. Only then will you see creditor's being held responsible for reporting incorrect data about everyone. Yes I'm in the finance sector and deal with credit reports on a daily basis, there is very few credit reports that are correct/accurate because of this problem with getting your credit reports updated. Credit 101 needs to be taught in high school vs sex education, we can figure out the later on our own.

yes these companies are scamming the public. BUT its is john doe moron's job to do his homework. it is a piece of cake to get your free credit report if you pay attention. and again i totally agree that these companies are scum, but people need to be accountable for themselves and quit crying.

About car insurance.... I was a customer for Progressive and AllState for many years until I realize I am being screwed by them. Even though I have no tickets, or accidents since I was 19 (I am now 45), those bastard companies charged me to the tilt based on my credit rating. Unfortunately due to a bastard husband, I had to file bankruptcy twice. Then one day, I decided to contact State Farm and the agent told me that since my driving record is free and clear, the preminums are very manageable. According to her, those bastard companies base their preminums on the credit reports, not your driving record. Needless to say, I switched companies and been happy since.

Make sure you note that sites like MSN and MSNBC actively SELL these credit reports to people EVERY DAY. Thanks for your concern msnbc, but why not put your money where your mouth is and refuse to support these unethical business practices by your advertisers.

Washington Mutual offers a no annual fee Visa card that includes free (yes, truly free) online access to your FICO score, plus optional free e-mail alerts if your score changes +/- 10 points over 30 days. You can find out about it at www.wamucards.com.

Disclaimer: I do not work for or have any financial interest in Washingion Mutual.

Why should we have to pay to get our Credit scores as well? If these are the numbers that decide if we get a low rate or high rate shouldn't we also be able to see them and the real score the banks use not the formulated ones they sell on these sites.

Sounds like a bunch of baiting and switching to me.
That's still illegal.
So there should be a huge class action lawsuit against the big 3 credit bureaus.

How about if credit reports were actually accurate?! I am sick of disputing inaccuracies on our reports and it not being corrected. Or, how about letting me get a copy of my 8 year olds report as he keeps getting credit cards in the mail? I have to send in a letter stating I am his mother to even get a copy. I am going to let him keep one of these cards and charge it to the max and then not pay it. If they are that stupid to send an 8 year old a credit card, they deserve it!