Getting a Real Free Credit Report

I’m sure you have seen the TV and radio ads for websites claiming to be giving out free credit reports just as well as I have.  I’m sure that if I started singing one of those annoying little tunes from such a site, everyone could sing along and perhaps even describe what happens in the commercial.  But unfortunately, most of these sites are a case of an offer being a little too good to be true.

The Fair Credit Reporting Act does guarantee you a free credit report from all three major credit bureaus every twelve months.  That is federal law and it’s your right as a citizen to exercise this privilege.  However, most people don’t know that there is only one website that is authorized by the Federal Trade Commission to distribute these credit reports.  It is not really advertised as much as the others, and this does lead people to getting scammed.

Other unauthorized sites are quite sneaky in the way they give you these “free” credit reports.  When you sign up for the site, you are really signing up for a free trial.  You’ll have access to your credit report for usually seven days, then it will automatically switch to having a monthly fee for this same information.  Often this is disclosed in the small, small, small print and consumers may not be aware it’s going on until they check their bank statement and see the charge.

If you want to exercise your right to a free credit report, your only sure bet is AnnualCreditReport.com.  They are authorized by the FTC to give you a free credit report every year.  We all know monitoring your credit is important to protect your from identity theft, so don’t get scammed by trying to check your information.