There’s Only One Way to Grab Your Free Credit Reports
The bold print giveth and the small print taketh away – the complaints against the free credit report websites have been steadily increasing. The issue at hand is the fact that although they advertise free credit reports, they are actually selling one or more services. Once a person signs up, they will be billed anywhere from $12.95 to 19.95 per month until they follow the cancellation procedures of each individual company. One such company that advertises free credit report just recently put this disclaimer on their popular television advertisements, “offer applies to enrollment in triple advantage plan.” What they’re saying is, if you want a credit report for free through us, you must sign up for our credit monitoring plan. They placed that disclaimer on their ads after pressure from consumer advocates and various citizen groups.
Surfing the web for free credit reports can be a hassle – the average consumer goes to their search engine of choice and types is, “free credit report” hoping to quickly find the website, order their credit reports and be done with it. However, the majority of websites that are at the top of the listings don’t offer anything for free. Almost all of them are either selling credit monitoring services, identity theft services, or they are phishing hoaxes designed to grab your credit card information and social security number. These sites are using the classic bait and switch trick to gain unsuspecting customers and victims.
CONSUMER ALERT: Many of these websites look legitimate, but remember; looks can be deceiving! If you’ve recently surfed one of these websites and provided your personal information thinking they were giving you something for free, it is imperative that you cancel any recurring billing immediately. It is practically impossible to get a refund on any past billings
