Free Instant Credit Report - How & Where To Get Yours

If you are looking for a free copy of your free instant credit report, make sure you are not actually signing up for a service that will cost your money. The website set up by Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion to provide one free report each year to US citizens is www.annualcreditreport.com . Everything else is private enterprise, and if you do not read the small print, you can end up with an unwanted monthly charge to your bank account.

One example is www.freecreditreportsinstantly.com . A quick glance at the site gives the impression that providing some information will give you instant access to your credit reports with all three of the major credit reporting agencies, but if you read the small print carefully, you will see that what you are signing up for is a month service offering a “free” two-week trial. The likelihood that you will notice the services charges on your account after two weeks is small, and that is what they are counting on.

If you don’t watch your checking account carefully, and you have visited a site like this in the past to look at your credit score, take a careful look at your next bank statement and you may well see a charge of $19.95, $29.95, or even more, run using your debit card or routing and account numbers, and sent to a cryptic business name you do not recognize.

 It’s hard to know how many people are unwittingly paying these fees every month to organizations that briefly provided them with something they can get for free, just because they don’t read their bank statements and have trouble understanding fine print on websites and in contracts.

You don’t have to just accept it if this has happened to you. Call your bank or credit union right away and let them know you never authorized the charge. They will ask you to sign an affidavit of fraud stating you didn’t realize you had authorized this. Then they will recover the money from the “free” credit reporting website and put the money back in your bank account.

Once you have gotten your money back, report the company to the Federal Trade Commission at www.ftc.gov. Then visit www.annualcreditreport.com and get your actual free credit report copies.

You are entitled to one free report each year from each agency. If you see errors on the report, write them within 30 days about whatever you think is wrong on it, and follow their procedures for disputing the wrongful item. You may or may not be able to remove items you think are incorrect, but even if the item is not removed you can leave a comment about why you consider it to be illegitimate.

Knowing your credit score can help you take charge of your financial life. Most negative items fall off your report after ten years, and not all lenders will hold a negative item against you if all your more recent reports are good. It’s a shame that some online vendors are unscrupulous enough to attempt to trick people into paying for free information, but knowing these websites exist can help you to protect yourself.