What Free Credit Report?

Catchy jingles. Funny commercials. Free credit scores. Free credit reports.

You’ve heard credit reports are free. Experian, TransUnion, Equifax are the major agencies reporting credit and are required to provide free reports by law - 2 per year in fact. But the websites being advertised on TV and Radio are nothing but money traps for unsuspecting consumers. The reality is… “Free Credit Score” websites are FAR from being free.

I admit, I’m human. I make mistakes. But I never make mistakes when it comes to getting scammed out of money…never…NEVER!...well, that is until I needed to check my credit for the loan on my townhome. I was told the 3 major credit reporting agencies provide a free credit report twice per year. So I figured, well, I might as well try one. Big mistake. BIG.

Here’s the catch:

My mistake, of course, was found in the fine print. Where they get you is this: the fine print requires you to enroll in a credit report service for a monthly fee of around $10-$15. After I received my “FREE CREDIT REPORT”, I never realized I was getting charged monthly for access to my report any time I wanted. After 4 months of charges, I found a strange line item on my Visa statement. It was an unidentifiable account out of California. So I called Visa and disputed the charges and they told me it was linked to the "free credit.com" website.

2 months later, after repeated calls to the website customer service, and letters and calls from my attorney, I was able to reverse only 3 out of 6 months of charges. What a rip off! Who needs to keep a monthly watch over their credit for $12.95 per month?

I was floored! What a scam?! How can they do this legally?

While I don’t have that answer, I do know to stay away.

It’s scary folks…I just saw Ben Stein, a renowned and trusted economist and finance whiz, promoting the latest rip-off credit score business. These little companies are popping up everywhere - I know of 4 being advertised currently on TV.

Please proceed with caution – it’s not worth wasting your time and money…I paid for a great lesson and I’m glad to share this costly story.

If you’re looking for the real way to get a free credit report, refer to this article on how to find the right service, and don’t make the same mistake. You’re smarter than that!

http://www.bankrate.com/finance/credit-debt/credit-reports-now-free-for-all.aspx

http://www.ftc.gov/freereports

Cash in the Couch