August 2007
‘Free’ credit reports: Beware of add-ons
Every U.S. consumer is entitled to a free yearly credit report from each of the three major credit-reporting bureaus--Equifax,
Experian, and TransUnion. The official Web site to distribute those reports is AnnualCreditReport.com, created as a result
of the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003 (FACT Act). But a new report from Consumer Reports WebWatch, a Consumers Union project that investigates Web credibility, found that the word “free” in other credit-report sites might
mean anything but.
The study looked at 24 sites, some with “free” or “credit” in their names. Most use the enticement of that free report to sell other services consumers might not need. More than half say they’ll give you a free credit report and credit score--a number from 300 to 850 that summarizes your creditworthiness--if you subscribe to a service to monitor changes in your credit report. Typically, those services charge $120 to $160 a year. The purveyors of such services say they help protect you from identity theft and fraud. But their effectiveness is limited, and neither the Federal Trade Commission nor consumer groups, including CU, endorse or recommend them.
CR’s take. When requesting your annual credit reports, go first to www.annualcreditreport.com or call 877-322-8228. If you’re curious about your credit scores, which aren’t included free, you can buy them for about $7 each through the official site.
The study looked at 24 sites, some with “free” or “credit” in their names. Most use the enticement of that free report to sell other services consumers might not need. More than half say they’ll give you a free credit report and credit score--a number from 300 to 850 that summarizes your creditworthiness--if you subscribe to a service to monitor changes in your credit report. Typically, those services charge $120 to $160 a year. The purveyors of such services say they help protect you from identity theft and fraud. But their effectiveness is limited, and neither the Federal Trade Commission nor consumer groups, including CU, endorse or recommend them.
CR’s take. When requesting your annual credit reports, go first to www.annualcreditreport.com or call 877-322-8228. If you’re curious about your credit scores, which aren’t included free, you can buy them for about $7 each through the official site.
