Free credit reports?

 

I'm going to try to get at least one of the annual free credit reports I'm
supposed to have available.

Any tips on what site to go to? What to watch out for? Dangerous mistakes I
could make? A quick

free credit report

Google search shows a large number of possibilities. Haven't looked at any
yet. Sounds too good to be true. What's in it for them? I suspect some are
dangerous.

TIA



--
"When you choose the lesser of two evils, always
remember that it is still an evil." - Max Lerner

 



You're correct to be concerned. Scam sites that trick you into thinking
they're the official annual credit report site is a big business. If you're
lucky, those scam sites will just sign you up into a credit monitoring
service which you'll have to remember to cancel you out of. If you're
unlucky, you just handed info over to an identity theft outfit.

I won't list the official URL because

  1. It's not something I keep handy.
  2. You shouldn't take my word for it any more than you should take
Google's (and Google isn't contending to send you to the official site
anyway)

Go to the FTC's website and look up the URL there. And of course, take all
the standard precautions (verify that the site is SSL and the SSL cert has
the correct info.)

And don't assume that it's the official site just because the owner is one
of the 3 credit bureaus.

 

In misc.consumers.frugal-living, you wrote:

www.annualcreditreport.com  is  the  legit  one, IIRC.  Consumer Reports
magazine (et al.)  recommends the  best  strategy  is  to  stagger  your
requests  every  four  months;  that  is, get one from Experian in (say)
January, one from TransUnion in May, and one from Equifax in  September;
this way, you'll be monitoring your reports on an ongoing basis.

--
------------------------------------------------------------------------
No entertainment is so cheap as reading, nor any pleasure so lasting.
--Mary Wortley Montagu

When  a  group  of  Oxford  undergraduates  heard  that  Rudyard Kipling
received ten shillings for every  word  he  wrote,  they  sent  him  ten
shillings  by telegram during their meeting: 'Please send us one of your
very best words.'  Back came the word a few minutes later: 'Thanks.'
--Marshall McLuhan, 'Understanding Media'
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Joe Negron from Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, NY, USA

 




    All of the sites that I've seen -- at least those that troll for
hits -- are sucker bait for subscription services. For actual
information on the subject, read this:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/consumer/credit/cre34.shtm
--
the Balvenieman
Running on single malt in U.S.A.

 

You are entitled to one free credit report per year from each of the 3
major ratings companies. Two problems: if there is an issue in one of your
reports, you need to pay to get all the information you need to attempt to
resolve it. And when you click on any of the sites which supposedly offer
free reports, they usually automatically sign you up for some type of
service. but if you watch your credit card charges and you call them
within 24 hours or so of the unwanted service, they will remove it.
xxxxo
-------------------------------------
KenK wrote:





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