Now you can sign up for a service that gives you a free copy of your credit report. Unless you are living in a cave somewhere you have probably been exposed to advertisements for FreeCreditReport.Com on radio, TV, and on the sides of busses.
You can write the three major credit reporting bureaus and get the same thing for free so why would you enlist the services of a Website that advertises heavily? After all, the servers and the advertising campaign are quite expensive so what is in it for them?
The service is actually run by Experian, one of the three major credit reporting companies. Their Website is offering a little more than just a free credit report, though. To quote from their Website:
- When you order your free report here, you will begin your free trial membership in Triple Advantage Credit Monitoring.
- If you don't cancel your membership within the 7-day trial period, you will be billed $14.95 for each month that you continue your membership.
The simple fact is that most people will forget to cancel and they will be billed almost fifteen bucks a month for credit protection. There is an easier, and cheaper, way to get your free credit report, well, for free! Note what their Website says:
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ConsumerInfo.com and Freecreditreport.com are not affiliated with the annual free credit report program. Under a new Federal law, you have the right to receive a free copy of your credit report once every 12 months from each of the three nationwide consumer reporting companies. To request your free annual report under that law, you must go to www.annualcreditreport.com.
So, you can get find the link to a really free credit report at the heavily advertised site that wants to charge for protecting your credit information.
Several companies offer credit protection for less than what these people want you to pay. Some of them will place a fraud alert on your account, just as you can do for free at the same site where you request your truly free credit report.
So, will we be singing along with those annoying young people about the virtues of our "free" credit report? Not any time soon. |
