Comments on: How To Get Your Free Credit Report and Avoid Fake Credit Offers http://www.moneybluebook.com/how-to-get-your-free-credit-report-and-avoid-fake-credit-offers/ Personal Finance Beyond Credit Cards and Balance Transfers Mon, 15 Mar 2010 19:30:38 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 hourly 1 By: Laura http://www.moneybluebook.com/how-to-get-your-free-credit-report-and-avoid-fake-credit-offers/comment-page-1/#comment-95623 Laura Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:02:15 +0000 http://www.moneybluebook.com/?p=4379#comment-95623 Hi, my name is Laura and I am an analyst at Balestriere Lanza, a trials and investigations law firm in New York. I saw your post on expressing a desire to be contacted if any potential class action law suits against Free Credit Report were in the works. Our firm has been investigating Free Credit Report's potential misconduct for several months and would be interested in hearing more from you about your experience. Please feel free to contact me at your convenience at laura.sayler@balestriere.net or at (212) 374-5400 x 133. Hi, my name is Laura and I am an analyst at Balestriere Lanza, a trials and investigations law firm in New York. I saw your post on expressing a desire to be contacted if any potential class action law suits against Free Credit Report were in the works. Our firm has been investigating Free Credit Report’s potential misconduct for several months and would be interested in hearing more from you about your experience. Please feel free to contact me at your convenience at laura.sayler@balestriere.net or at (212) 374-5400 x 133.

]]> By: CornHusker http://www.moneybluebook.com/how-to-get-your-free-credit-report-and-avoid-fake-credit-offers/comment-page-1/#comment-73216 CornHusker Tue, 26 May 2009 04:31:23 +0000 http://www.moneybluebook.com/?p=4379#comment-73216 I recommend using MYFICO's Score Watch program for credit monitoring rather than FREECREDITREPORT.COM or any of the credit services in this blog. With the ScoreWatch program from MYFICO you get credit score monitoring which also shows important changes to your score and report as they happen. I recommend using MYFICO’s Score Watch program for credit monitoring rather than FREECREDITREPORT.COM or any of the credit services in this blog. With the ScoreWatch program from MYFICO you get credit score monitoring which also shows important changes to your score and report as they happen.

]]> By: Scores http://www.moneybluebook.com/how-to-get-your-free-credit-report-and-avoid-fake-credit-offers/comment-page-1/#comment-73215 Scores Thu, 21 May 2009 16:29:29 +0000 http://www.moneybluebook.com/?p=4379#comment-73215 Annualcreditreport.com is the ONLY way to get your free credit reports! It's the only official sponsored source via the federal government. With the official Annaul Credit Report you get 1 free credit report from each of your 3 credit bureau reports once a year - so manage them properly by requesting one every 4 months. By staggering the requests throughout 365 days you'll get a full one year picture of your credit reporting situation in proper intervals. Now if you want 24 hour 7 days a week monitoring, then try a real credit monitoring service like the ones above. That's the only reason anybody ought to utilize PrivacyMatters or CreditCheckTotal etc....for credit report monitoring and not for their free credit reporting services. Annualcreditreport.com is the ONLY way to get your free credit reports! It’s the only official sponsored source via the federal government. With the official Annaul Credit Report you get 1 free credit report from each of your 3 credit bureau reports once a year – so manage them properly by requesting one every 4 months. By staggering the requests throughout 365 days you’ll get a full one year picture of your credit reporting situation in proper intervals. Now if you want 24 hour 7 days a week monitoring, then try a real credit monitoring service like the ones above. That’s the only reason anybody ought to utilize PrivacyMatters or CreditCheckTotal etc….for credit report monitoring and not for their free credit reporting services.

]]> By: Daniel http://www.moneybluebook.com/how-to-get-your-free-credit-report-and-avoid-fake-credit-offers/comment-page-1/#comment-73213 Daniel Wed, 13 May 2009 00:20:00 +0000 http://www.moneybluebook.com/?p=4379#comment-73213 Yes.....FreeCreditReport dot com is pretty shady and the guitar playing guy in their commercials is pretty annoying as well (he's not even American, he's Canadian!) but I wouldn't go so far as to call it an outright scam. I actually use freecreditreport to monitor my tri-credit reports and thus far it's done its job. But then I wasn't using it just to get my free credit report or even my free credit score...I actually wanted to use the credit monitoring feature. So I guess it all boils down to what your expectations are. If you go in with your eyes closed thinking you can walk away with a freebie with nothing down and no trial commitment, then you will be disappointed. Yeah your credit report and credit score CAN be free, but you have to take part in their marketing game...which is you must sign up and then quickly cancel to avoid paying anything. It's really not that hard. Just sign up and cancel and you pay zippo fees. Same thing with your FICO scores...if you want the real FICO credit score...just visit myFICO.com or Equifax and take part in their ScoreWatch trial periods and cancel in time to walk away with your free FICO credit scores... Yes…..FreeCreditReport dot com is pretty shady and the guitar playing guy in their commercials is pretty annoying as well (he’s not even American, he’s Canadian!) but I wouldn’t go so far as to call it an outright scam.

I actually use freecreditreport to monitor my tri-credit reports and thus far it’s done its job. But then I wasn’t using it just to get my free credit report or even my free credit score…I actually wanted to use the credit monitoring feature.

So I guess it all boils down to what your expectations are. If you go in with your eyes closed thinking you can walk away with a freebie with nothing down and no trial commitment, then you will be disappointed. Yeah your credit report and credit score CAN be free, but you have to take part in their marketing game…which is you must sign up and then quickly cancel to avoid paying anything. It’s really not that hard. Just sign up and cancel and you pay zippo fees. Same thing with your FICO scores…if you want the real FICO credit score…just visit myFICO.com or Equifax and take part in their ScoreWatch trial periods and cancel in time to walk away with your free FICO credit scores…

]]> By: Holly http://www.moneybluebook.com/how-to-get-your-free-credit-report-and-avoid-fake-credit-offers/comment-page-1/#comment-68902 Holly Thu, 07 May 2009 13:37:07 +0000 http://www.moneybluebook.com/?p=4379#comment-68902 Freecreditreport is a scam! How is it free when you have to pay money to get your so called free credit report. If it was really free....there would be no money needed, no contracts, and no catches or gimmicks. These sites are all online scams trying to get your money and laugh their way to the bank while you end up paying monthly charges on a credit monitoring service. I signed up for one of these freecreditreport offers - i think it was Privacy matters 123 and I winded up with a monthly charge on my credit card. It took me days to get them to remove the charge. Yeah I got my free credit scores and supposedly free credit report but it took too much effort. Beware it's not as it seems!! Freecreditreport is a scam! How is it free when you have to pay money to get your so called free credit report. If it was really free….there would be no money needed, no contracts, and no catches or gimmicks. These sites are all online scams trying to get your money and laugh their way to the bank while you end up paying monthly charges on a credit monitoring service. I signed up for one of these freecreditreport offers – i think it was Privacy matters 123 and I winded up with a monthly charge on my credit card. It took me days to get them to remove the charge. Yeah I got my free credit scores and supposedly free credit report but it took too much effort. Beware it’s not as it seems!!

]]> By: Raymond http://www.moneybluebook.com/how-to-get-your-free-credit-report-and-avoid-fake-credit-offers/comment-page-1/#comment-64621 Raymond Sun, 12 Apr 2009 20:07:12 +0000 http://www.moneybluebook.com/?p=4379#comment-64621 Jakers, My apologies if I am somewhat long winded when it comes to writing these personal finance blog entries...I just like to pack in all of my thoughts about the subject... But in regards to your question, I recommend going through the official free credit report site at annualcreditreport.com first. It's the only official federal government sponsored free credit report site. Under federal law, all U.S. residents are entitled to a free credit report from each of the big three credit rating agencies (for a total of 3 credit reports from Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian) per 12 month period. Sites like FreeCreditReport or CreditCheckTotal come in handy when you have completely used up your official annualcreditreport.com allotment for the year. So long as you cancel within the required trial period (may be as short as 7 days), you can truly walk away with your credit report free of charge (but ONLY if you cancel in time). This part is absolutely essential - you MUST cancel in time. The vast majority of people who call these trial offers scams are those who forget to cancel in time or those who failed to carefully read what they were getting into before they clicked the "I Agree" button. Maybe not in the past, but sites like FreeCreditReport.com do adequately comply with government mandated visual disclosure rules today...but perhaps such disclosure rules may tighten further in the future as needed to protect consumers. But are these types of free credit report offers somewhat misleading to most casual layperson observers? ...Perhaps. However, all free trial offer gimmicks of this kind are somewhat like that. But when used properly, they do yield truly free credit reporting freebies for those looking to game the system. Jakers,

My apologies if I am somewhat long winded when it comes to writing these personal finance blog entries…I just like to pack in all of my thoughts about the subject…

But in regards to your question, I recommend going through the official free credit report site at annualcreditreport.com first. It’s the only official federal government sponsored free credit report site. Under federal law, all U.S. residents are entitled to a free credit report from each of the big three credit rating agencies (for a total of 3 credit reports from Equifax, TransUnion, and Experian) per 12 month period.

Sites like FreeCreditReport or CreditCheckTotal come in handy when you have completely used up your official annualcreditreport.com allotment for the year. So long as you cancel within the required trial period (may be as short as 7 days), you can truly walk away with your credit report free of charge (but ONLY if you cancel in time). This part is absolutely essential – you MUST cancel in time.

The vast majority of people who call these trial offers scams are those who forget to cancel in time or those who failed to carefully read what they were getting into before they clicked the “I Agree” button.

Maybe not in the past, but sites like FreeCreditReport.com do adequately comply with government mandated visual disclosure rules today…but perhaps such disclosure rules may tighten further in the future as needed to protect consumers. But are these types of free credit report offers somewhat misleading to most casual layperson observers? …Perhaps. However, all free trial offer gimmicks of this kind are somewhat like that. But when used properly, they do yield truly free credit reporting freebies for those looking to game the system.

]]> By: Jakers http://www.moneybluebook.com/how-to-get-your-free-credit-report-and-avoid-fake-credit-offers/comment-page-1/#comment-64620 Jakers Sat, 11 Apr 2009 13:53:18 +0000 http://www.moneybluebook.com/?p=4379#comment-64620 Ray, I scanned through the article, but it was sort of long and extremely detailed...but are you telling me that these free credit report and even free credit score sites like FreeCreditReport.com are perfectly legit? I had always heard that these may be credit report scams but I'm a little still unsure. Where is the most reliable place to get my free credit report without cost? Is it AnnualCreditReport or FreeCreditReport? I got my 3 free reports a while back...about 1/2 a year ago through the government site, but now they are telling me that I have used up my limit.... Ray,

I scanned through the article, but it was sort of long and extremely detailed…but are you telling me that these free credit report and even free credit score sites like FreeCreditReport.com are perfectly legit? I had always heard that these may be credit report scams but I’m a little still unsure. Where is the most reliable place to get my free credit report without cost? Is it AnnualCreditReport or FreeCreditReport?

I got my 3 free reports a while back…about 1/2 a year ago through the government site, but now they are telling me that I have used up my limit….

]]> By: Raymond http://www.moneybluebook.com/how-to-get-your-free-credit-report-and-avoid-fake-credit-offers/comment-page-1/#comment-62529 Raymond Mon, 30 Mar 2009 05:53:50 +0000 http://www.moneybluebook.com/?p=4379#comment-62529 Joel, Yes, always make sure you follow the terms and conditions of whatever free credit report offer you intend to pursue. The cancellation terms vary, but so long as you abide by them by canceling upon sign up or before the 7-30 day trial period, you should be able to avoid all unnecessary charges. The CIC Triple Advantage charged you indicated indeed came from FreeCreditReport. Glad you were able to remove the charge after some mild wrangling on your part! Joel,

Yes, always make sure you follow the terms and conditions of whatever free credit report offer you intend to pursue. The cancellation terms vary, but so long as you abide by them by canceling upon sign up or before the 7-30 day trial period, you should be able to avoid all unnecessary charges.

The CIC Triple Advantage charged you indicated indeed came from FreeCreditReport. Glad you were able to remove the charge after some mild wrangling on your part!

]]> By: Joel http://www.moneybluebook.com/how-to-get-your-free-credit-report-and-avoid-fake-credit-offers/comment-page-1/#comment-61225 Joel Sun, 22 Mar 2009 18:30:46 +0000 http://www.moneybluebook.com/?p=4379#comment-61225 Well I did exactly that previously. To search for free credit reports..I went to google and stumbled upon FreeCreditReport.com. I didn't read the disclaimer or even what I was getting myself into. Now, I have a charge on my MasterCard for $14.95 from some company called CIC*Triple Advantage, which I presume is Free Credit Report. After having gone back to read the contract, I actually feel pretty stupid. Yeah I did get my free credit report and free Experian credit score, but I should have canceled the trial offer in time. Should have did what you suggested which is to cancel IMMEDIATELY after signing up for the free trial. Yup...lesson learned, read the fine print, and pay attention next time. Chalk that up to experience for next time I suppose. Yeah it's free...but you have to make sure you cancel! By the way, took me a while to figure this out...but the customer care department phone number at freecreditreport to cancel is (1-888-829-6560)...after much whining...they finally dropped the $14.95 charge...phew Well I did exactly that previously. To search for free credit reports..I went to google and stumbled upon FreeCreditReport.com. I didn’t read the disclaimer or even what I was getting myself into. Now, I have a charge on my MasterCard for $14.95 from some company called CIC*Triple Advantage, which I presume is Free Credit Report.

After having gone back to read the contract, I actually feel pretty stupid. Yeah I did get my free credit report and free Experian credit score, but I should have canceled the trial offer in time. Should have did what you suggested which is to cancel IMMEDIATELY after signing up for the free trial. Yup…lesson learned, read the fine print, and pay attention next time. Chalk that up to experience for next time I suppose. Yeah it’s free…but you have to make sure you cancel!

By the way, took me a while to figure this out…but the customer care department phone number at freecreditreport to cancel is (1-888-829-6560)…after much whining…they finally dropped the $14.95 charge…phew

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