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Student group offers advice on free credit reports
May 09, 2006
Consumers don't need to pay for a free copy of their credit reports, advises the Student Advocates for Financial Education (SAFE) at MSU.
As of September 2005, an amendment to the Fair Credit Reporting Act requires the three national credit-reporting agencies to provide consumers with one free copy of their credit report annually. The only official authorized Web site to request free credit reports is http://www.annualcreditreport.com. Credit reports can also be requested by phone, 1-877-322-8228, or by mail (see the Web site for application and address).
After this legislation came into affect, other Web sites also claim to offer "free credit reports," "free credit scores," or "free credit monitoring." These sites are not part of the national annual free credit report legislation, and the "free" products they offer often come as bonuses when a consumer signs up for some service or item for a fee, according to SAFE.
The free annual credit report program will never send e-mail, use pop-up ads or call your home to solicit personal information in order to receive a free credit report. If you receive any e-mails, ads or phone calls asking for personal information in order to receive a free credit report, do not respond and report the solicitation to spam@uce.gov, http://www.ftc.gov, or call 1-877-FTC-HELP (1-877-382-4357).
The Federal Trade Commission has more information about the annual credit report program and other consumer issues related to credit. To learn more, visit http://www.ftc.gov/credit.
If you have questions about receiving free credit report or other financial matters, please contact Student Advocates for Financial Education: 994-7223, safe@montana.edu or go to http://www.safe.montana.edu.
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