Be careful when you opt for those free credit reports

[question everything]

Be careful when you opt for those free credit reports

By Lynn O'Shaughnessy
August 7, 2005
San Diego Union Tribune

Are you a bad typist? Or a lousy speller? If so, you might want to avoid using the Internet to obtain your credit report. Just one misspelled word could land you in the clutches of a sneaky marketer or maybe even an identity thief.

(snip)

For the record, only one legitimate site passes out the free reports. The online address of the federally mandated site is www.annualcreditreport.com. I just double-and triple-checked that address because getting it wrong is what has created headaches for plenty of people.

According to the World Privacy Forum, a nonprofit public interest research organization in San Diego, at least 233 impostor sites exist. And these credit report sites have been multiplying like cockroaches. When the forum went hunting for bogus sites in February, it found 96 impostor domains. These fake sites are counting on consumers to unwittingly share their personal data. This can happen after someone stumbles onto one of these domains by typing in the wrong Web address. You can also be led astray if you use a search engine and type in "free credit report."

(snip)

Some of the domain creators seek to obtain personal data from you, such as your Social Security number, which could conceivably be used to steal your identity. Others sell the information that consumers provide them to companies, which use the data for marketing pitches. Some of these destinations have been created by the credit bureaus themselves. It can be tough telling the difference between a deceptive site and the real McCoy. Some impostor domains, according to the World Privacy Forum, steal credit bureau logos and use trademarked names and symbols to con visitors into thinking their sites are legit.

Luckily, there is a simple solution to this problem. Type in the correct Web address or skip the Internet altogether. Instead you can request a credit report by calling [phone].

(snip)

Lynn O'Shaughnessy is the author of "The Retirement Bible" and "The Investing Bible." She can be reached at [e-mail].


Find this article at:
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20050807/news_lz1b7oshaughn.html

[Poiuyt]

1. Here's the government site about the free credit reports:

http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/freereports.htm

[question everything]

2. Thanks. A useful site n/t

[lvx35]

3. Recommended!

Wow! I had no idea. Awesome.

[halobeam]

4. Thanks for this.... you might very well have just saved me

from a nightmare. I will be looking into my children's credit reports...and they are very young. We had financial troubles and I was told that some bills incurred in our names but for service to our kids, might now be in their names and they may have bad credit. My oldest will be going to college in a few years..he doesn't need to have problems because we did, that would be too much for me, I feel guilty as it is. Damn.

[question everything]

6. Good luck. Hope you will sort it all out

Make sure you check everything and call them for correction, even something mild as wrong address.

[Spock_is_Skeptical]

5. Very useful info... thanks for posting this - recommended!

[rndmprsn]

7. thanks!

[karlrschneider]

8. Kicking this...one of my friends had big problems because he went to

freecreditreport.com (I believe that's the URL...it seems I've seen it advertised on TV)

:kick: