Looking for a free credit report? Interested in FreeCreditReport.com? Think again.The site's TV ads feature slackers singing of their life problems and are appealing to a younger crowd. It also has a Web site name that implies the report is free. Little do people know FreeCreditReport.com charges a credit-monitoring service that costs $14.95 a month, automatically taken from your credit card.
Kris Steele remembers these commercials, especially the lyrics that spell out F-R-E-E. Anxious about his credit, he went to the site and signed up for the report. A few months later, he checked his statements and found the Web site was charging him $14.95 a month. Steele doesn't recall seeing anything about this fee and feels duped by the sites faulty name and advertising.
The problem with FreeCreditReport.com is in its advertising. Due to legal issues in the past, it now has a disclosure on its home page saying it's not affiliated with the annual free credit report program. This disclosure is in fine print on the side of the home page, on a subdued background.
This is leaving consumer groups concerned.
The three major credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax and TransUnion are required to offer reports through the authorized AnnualCreditReport.com but the bureaus also make money from their own credit reports. The only authorized site for free credit reports is AnnualCreditReport.com.
To see the NY Times report, click here.
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