Free Credit Report

Every consumer in America has the right to a free credit report once every year by law as of September 2005. But since that law has passed there has been nothing but confusion.

The web sites that say they are offering this so called free credit report, are asking us to give them our credit card information. Does that sound like a free credit report to you?

You may have even given your credit card number to these companies to sign up for a thirty day trial for a credit service that has almost nothing to do with getting your free credit report.

In all fairness, you can cancel this service after thirty days. But how many people do you think forget and end up with monthly or even annual credit card charges?

In fact, these companies are counting on you forgetting about the thirty day trial and charging that fee on your credit card. But if the law says you get a free report, what’s the deal?

A lot of people are confused about these free credit reports because of how some companies are marketing the free credit report. Hopefully, this information will clear a few things up for you.

For people who just want the bottom line, a free credit report is available at www.AnnualCreditReport.com and this is the only official site that helps consumers to obtain their annual free credit report.

This site’s security protocols are excellent with physical and technological security and encryption. That’s important for identity theft purposes because the information on your credit report should be seen by your eyes only.

So if this site is readily available and anyone can get a free credit report once a year, what’s the catch? Here is the catch: the credit report you get from www.AnnualCreditReport.com does not have any credit scores.

Now you may be asking, “Then what good is getting this free credit report without a credit score?” There are a few good reasons why you may want to look at your credit report even without a credit score.

Did you know that more than forty percent of all credit reports have errors? If you spot these errors, you can get them cleared up before it affects your credit score. If you contact a credit bureau about an error, they have to clear it up or remove it after thirty days by law.

If you monitor and review your credit report, you can check to be sure that you are not a victim of identity theft. If someone takes over your accounts and charges up thousands of dollars in debt, they can destroy your credit score in a matter of hours.

These are just a couple of good reasons why you want to get your free credit report once a year and inspect it just to be sure everything looks like it should. You can get your free credit report online at www.AnnualCreditReport.com or by phone or through the mail.

So where do you get your credit score from? This is where the confusion comes in and here is the answer. The law Congress passed did not say anything about a credit score just one free credit report a year per consumer.

You have to pay a service to get your credit score and some companies are confusing people with the way they are marketing this. They offer you a free credit report and score and many consumers believe it’s their annual free credit report.

But if you have to sign up for a credit service they offer for a 30 day trial period, does that sound free? What these companies are counting on is you forgetting about the 30 day trial and charging a fee on your credit card once that trial period is over.

It’s in the fine print, but how many people actually read that. So here is a good common sense rule of thumb. Any time you have to give your credit card information, ask yourself, “is this really free?”

Many of you probably know this is happening because you have been trapped with this kind of marketing tactic. But for those of you that just want your annual free credit report, you can at least be aware as to what is really going on and have a no nonsense way to get it.

Copyright © 2006 Credit-Repair-Facts.com All Rights Reserved.

This article is supplied by Credit Repair Facts.com where you will find credit information, debt elimination programs and informative facts that give you the knowledge to correct your own credit and credit report. For more credit related articles like these go to: Credit and Debt Articles

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It is the scourge of our age: identity theft. Thieves learn an important part about your personal information, such as your credit card number, and they open accounts in your name and spend, spend, spend! Unfortunately, by the time you discover that you are a victim the damage is already done. Here are seven steps you can take to prevent identity theft.

1. Guard your social security number. Clerks, telephone sales people, etc. will sometimes ask for your social security number. Do not give this information out. Of course, certain government agencies require your social security number for identification purposes, but other than that no one has a “need” for your number.

2. Get a shredder. Yes, ripping papers up into little pieces can help but these pieces can also be put back together by someone determined to get information from you. Thieves resort to “dumpster diving” or “trash can trolling” to find out important information about you. Once they have it you can count on your problems beginning.

3. Protect your mail. Thieves will make off with your mail if they think there is something of interest there. Purchase a locking mailbox if you live in an area prone to mail theft. Notify the post office if you suspect any problems. The United States Post Office has their own team of investigators who really, really hate mail fraud.

4. Get your free credit report. As of September 2005 all three major credit reporting agencies — TransUnion, Experian, and Equifax - must permit consumers to access a copy of their credit report for free on a yearly basis. To maximize the benefit of this law order a copy every four months from a different agency. Check your report carefully and take the proper steps necessary to correct any errors.

5. Review your monthly statements. Chances are you skim your credit card statements since it has gotten quite lengthy with all your gas, food, retail, and internet purchases. Thieves count on you doing just that! Pay closer attention to each item and question anything remotely suspicious. Follow the instructions of your credit card provider for contesting anything that is incorrect.

6. Do not call. Give telemarketers and all other phone solicitors the boot by getting yourself listed on “do not call” registries. Screen calls with caller i.d. to filter out everyone else.

7. Protect your computer. Make sure that you are running the latest internet security programs, change your password regularly, and only purchase items through a secure site [those with an “s” in their web address: https]

Should you suspect a problem, notify the three credit reporting agencies and request that a “fraud alert” be placed in your file. Contact the fraud departments of the effected credit providing companies and follow up all that you do with statements in writing. In some cases your rights are only guaranteed if you send a letter, so be diligent to learn all that is required of you when you have been victimized.

Matthew Keegan writes on business related, human interest, education, aviation, and general issues. For samples of some of his work please visit http://www.thearticlewriter.com

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Identity theft is the number one crime in America. Tens of thousands of people that have always paid their bills on time are waking up one day to discover their bank accounts drained, maxed out credit cards in their name and their credit ruined.

Two weeks ago I became a victim of credit card fraudand I am as careful as you can be. Dealing with fraud victims on a daily basis has taught me to constantly monitor my credit profile and bank accounts. In this particular case someone had obtained my bank debit card Visa information and was running up thousands of dollars in charges. Had I not been in the habit of monitoring my finances on an almost daily basis I may have been writing this in despair, my hard earned money mounted in the form of a new plasma screen television on the wall of some cunning crook.

In my case I was alerted to the illegal activity by a not so pleasant visit to my online bank account. After picking myself off of the floor and allowing the color to return to my cheeks I immediately placed a call to my bank to cancel the card. Luckily, my bank offers free fraud protection, but many don’t. If your bank does not offer this important service I recommend you change banks.

I discovered the activity before the items had even posted. The money was drawn into credit escrow and was not showing in my account but the funds had not yet been released. My next call was to the actual companies that had posted the transactions to my account. They were listed under ‘pending transactions’. After a handful of telephone calls I was able to cancel all of the transactions illegally charged to my account. I was lucky and within twenty-four hours the funds were credited back to my balance. Keep in mind that I speak at credit restoration seminars and teach people how to protect themselves from these predators. Fortunately, I also practice what I preach. In this case it saved my hide.

When it comes down to it, the only sure way to avoid identity theft is to cancel any accounts that can be electronically accessed. Since this is not an option in today’s day and age I will give you a short list of precautions recommended to protect yourself and your family from potentially catastrophic damage to your finances and credit rating.

Recommendation #1: Make sure every credit card and bank account you use has free identity theft and fraud insurance. When I fell victim I was immediately relieved because my bank had my backside covered.

Recommendation #2: Have a specialists make certain that your computer is adequately fire-walled and any wireless network has active security. It is easy for a hacker to acquire your information if this is not the case. They have programs that track every keystroke on your computer and use these programs to steal your information.

Recommendation #3: Carefully monitor your bank accounts on a daily basis. The criminal that stole my information was careful to make the transactions on the weekend, early morning when I was unlikely to discover the activity.

Recommendation #4: Purchase some form of Credit Monitoring program. Many of these online programs are worth their weight in gold. Not only do they alert you to changes in balances and additions of derogatory credit but more importantly they alert you if any credit cards are taken out in your name. That is how they strike hardest. By setting you up on paper at a new address and opening up new accounts in your name.

Recommendation #5: Purchase a home/office shredder and use it. Dumpster diving is still well utilized for obtaining consumer information.

By taking these simple steps you will be shielding yourself and your family from possible attack. The threat of having your identity and money stolen is real and without an active program in place you may find yourself broke and fighting an uphill battle to restore your finances and your credit. You never think it will happen to you until it does. Take my word for it!

Copyright December 2005, yourcreditcures.com, USA

Tad MacPherson is a credit specialist with years of experience assisting consumers with repairing, restoring and reestablishing their credit. Get free advice and valuable credit tools at http://www.yourcreditcures.com.
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