The Not-So-Free Credit Report Song
(pirate not included)
'Freeeeeeeee Credit Report my butt!
I should've seen it comin' at me like a big Mack Truck!
They told it was all so free with good email alerts!
But they charged my Visa every month, and now I'm eating dirt!
It's a Freeeeeee Credit Report - I thought!
They asked me for my credit number... and I gave it up!
So nowadays I'm stuck with a stupid monthly bill...
Just make sure you login where they always charge you nil!
(Optional: Insert 'Yee-Hah' here)
After it became law that anyone can get an annual copy of their own credit report from the big three credit reporting agencies, companies began springing up all over the place offering their own 'special' version of a free report.
What they are REALLY doing is selling you 'credit monitoring'.
Monitoring usually means you get a phone call or an email whenever either YOU or someone else using your name applies for credit somewhere - before the credit is granted. It's not necessarily a bad idea to sign up for one of these services, (like the one I hinted at with the song) but you shouldn't be tricked into it, either.
The problem comes when folks who simply want a copy of their credit reports get sucked into signing up for the monitoring service as well.
These companies then charge your credit card a fee each month. Some are good at ignoring your requests to stop doing this, once you sign up.
There are scores of these companies out there. But if just want your free reports, you should know there is only ONE AUTHORIZED SOURCE.
When using this site, have your information ready and you must be cold sober. Make a mistake and they'll stop the whole process. Do it right, and take it a step at a time, and you can obtain reports from all three agencies for free.
No...I mean REALLY free.