Free Credit Reports
Ordering By Phone or Mail
Why do some people try to foul up a good thing? For the past six months,
California residents have been able get free credit reports via mail, a toll-free
telephone number or from a Web site.
Congress enacted the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act (FACTA), which
will give everyone nationwide the right to a free credit report every 12 months,
from each of the three major nationwide credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and
Trans Union.
Because identity theft is booming, one way to protect yourself is to
regularly check your credit reports to make sure a thief hasn’t opened up a
credit account in your name or used a credit card you may have lost.
This free service truly is a great motivator for people who might not
otherwise spend money to stay on top of their credit reports. Many people have
successfully accessed this service since it began in December.
Unfortunately and ironically, some people have been ripped off
because of it, in particular those who have mistyped the Web site address
or clicked the wrong site from a search engine listing. Although the quickest
way to access your free report is through the Internet, it has become the
biggest source of headaches according to Pam Dixon, founder of the nonprofit
World Privacy Forum, which as been closely following the progress and problems
related to the free credit report service.
Unscrupulous people/businesses have paid for domains (Web site
addresses) that closely match the address for the real free credit report site:
www.annualcreditreport.com. When people mistype this address, they may get a fake site that pretends to be
the real deal.
The same problem happens when people don’t know the real address and use a
search engine. They type in “free credit report” and get tons of listings. There
is only one real site and using the search engine is a needle-in-ahaystack
approach. If people get on the wrong site, at best it just attempts to sell them
a credit report service; at worst the site gets their personal information,
which could be used to steal their identity.
Dixon’s group has been collecting a list of the possible misspellings and the
resulting Web sites. The information is available in a report on the
organization’s Web site: www.worldprivacyforum.org.
She points to one site where instead of being the source for a free credit
report, “it is a car loan site,” she says. “It asks for all your private
information. It’s very easy to confuse people, to make people think that they
have to fill things out.”
The Federal Trade Commission is aware of Dixon’s report and concerned if
consumers are being deceived, says Kellie Cosgrove Riley with the FTC. She says
deceptive sites, would be subject to FTC action; “people should be able to get
their free credit reports for free.”
For people who wish to pursue the free credit report online, Riley warns that
“if you get into a situation where you are required to make a payment, you’re in
the wrong place. With the real site, there’s no requirement that you pay for
anything.”
She says that the FTC wants to hear from consumers who feel they've been
deceived as they tried to access their free credit report. Pinpointing these
problems becomes more important as the free credit report program is rolled out
in more states. This month, Southern states are now able to access this service.
In September, the remaining Eastern states will be added.
If you wish to report a problem with this program, you can contact the FTC at
(877) FTCHELP (382-4357), or www.ftc.gov.
Fortunately, there other two other ways of accessing your free credit report:
•Call the toll-free number, (877) 322-8228.
• Mail your request to:
Annual Credit Report Request Service
P.O. Box 105281
Atlanta, GA 30348-5281
With either of these routes, Dixon recommends that you have the credit report
sent to a secure mailbox and that you request that all but the last four digits
of your Social Security number be masked.
Processing your credit report through the phone or by mail can take up to 15
days.
Most importantly, don't let the issues with online access stop you from
pursuing your free credit report on a regular basis. This service remains an
excellent way to help you in the battle against identity theft.
Call Toll-free: (877) 322-8228 to order a free credit report
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