Why FreeCreditReport.com Is a Scam
In 2004, the U.S. Congress ordered the three major credit bureaus – Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion – to craft a website to allow consumers to order their credit reports online for free, once per year.
Not long after, Experian realized the legislation presented a clever, untapped marketing opportunity. They launched FreeCreditReport.com with the (obvious) hope that unsuspecting consumers wouldn’t know the difference between their not-so-free site and Congress’ mandated, free alternative.
Consumers have since been inundated on television, in print and, of course, online with ads for the FreeCreditReport.com website. That sing-song jingle (“Freeeeee Credit Report … dot.com!”) alone should be a crime, but that’s another topic for another day.
Blame it on their need for a catchy website name, but Experian clearly hid the fact that their “free” credit reports were only offered with consumer enrollment in the agency’s paid Triple Advantage program. In fairness, “Twelve ninety-five per month credit report … dot.com!” just doesn’t have quite the same ring.
Evidently, the agency’s marketing and business tactics were a little overzealous and more than a little shady – enough so that state and federal governments took notice. In late 2006, Florida’s state attorney general’s office launched an investigation into Experian’s business practices, citing a “failure to adequately disclose negative option enrollment … deceptive advertising, misleading domain name, and failure to honor cancellations.”
A previous 2005 investigation had the Federal Trade Commission charging that Experian “misled consumers about their association with the annual free credit report program”. The agency flatly denied the claim, but agreed to settle and refund $1 million in “ill-gotten gains” to consumers anyway.
Fast-forward three years and clearly little has changed. As of February, 2008, Googling the search term “FreeCreditReport.com scam” reveals a disheartening 35,000 results. These results include a staggering number of blogs and forums wherein consumers offer comments with variations on a common theme:
FCR is a shady and dishonest venture from Experian. I found that I was billed for a year of their service after giving my information for a one-time “free” check. When I disputed the charge, I thought that I had just been careless in enrolling. What a SHAM! – Erik, NJ (MSNBC’s Red Tape Chronicles blog)
As a victim of Experian’s ploy, I too count myself among the unsuspecting. My “unsubscribing” to their Triple Advantage plan required countless phone calls, e-mails, filling out online forms – everything short of a Papal intervention.
Bottom line: the safest way to request your free annual credit report is through AnnualCreditReport.com. Period. You can also obtain your free credit report – and free credit scores, too – through Transunion’s free trial offer. Click here for more details.
Related posts:
- A Step-By-Step Guide to Getting Your (Actually) Free Credit Report without Accidentally Signing Up For Extras: Part Two – Experian
- FICO vs. VantageScore and the Truth About Free Credit Scores
- A Step-By-Step Guide to Getting Your (Actually) Free Credit Report without Accidentally Signing Up For Extras: Part One – TransUnion
- New FICO Score Information
- Debit Card Disputes and How They Work
Just thought I’d point something out. I’m not condoning the practice of sneaking in charges. In their defense on the domain name though, they’ve had that site since 1999. If you check archive.org, you can see that. I only thought of it when I noticed 2004 and remembered my husband and I went through some stuff with them when we got a free credit report in 2002. They may have started a stronger advertising campaign once the annual credit reports were required though.
I’ve used FCR and the site is a waste of money. They don’t help you with correcting your credit report. (They had me in a different state!)
I reported them to the Attorney General. I quickly got a response stating that they would look into it. Hope they do. I’m sick of people doing business this way.
I signed up to check my credit report. I found out I had 7 days to cancel before I was charged on a monthly basis. I immediately called to cancel the account. After saying several times and very firmly: “Cancel my account, please”, the operator on the phone said the account was canceled and I would not be charged.
A few months go by, I was charged 4 times! I went through all these hoops to get my FULL refund of $59.80. I know it doesn’t seem much but I CANCELED my account! I finally got my FULL refund.
I have my whole story here and well as email, phone, and fax information to getting a refund:
http://ootie.blogspot.com/2009/03/freecreditreportcom-is-scam.html
[...] the Master Your Card blog, Mike summed it up well: “In 2004, the U.S. Congress ordered the three major credit bureaus [...]
freecreditreport is a SCAM !!! I am pretty savvy with purchasing on the web, but these guys trick you and they are very misleading. I paid to find my credit rating (which you cannot get from the gov for free) FCR enrolls you in a trial, without telling you or confirming by email and you need to call to cancel. Here’s the problem… you don’t know about the charges until you receive your next months credit card bill. Another interesting fact… I ordered my credit score, the charges were billed same day but the monthly ‘trial’ charges were not billed until a few days later, which just happened to be the first day of the credit card billing cycle which means I was billed twice within one billing cycle (1st and last day of billing cycle). another fact… cal their customer support number and the first option on the phone tree is to cancel your service. What other customer service line has that as their first option ???
open you eyes and see,their site clearly states that you can still get annual reports from annualcreditreport.com and also states about the auto billing package. You just need to cancel it from your account panel.
So dont come here as DUMB and yell that is SCAM, you people are really pathetic.
- A proud FCR customer!
Actually Sam, ur the idiot that is a proud customer of a service that is misleading and charges you for somthing that you can get for free else where. In all reality you are the DUMB and PATHETIC one my friend… Think b4 you call people dumb when you are the retard yourself. Have fun paying monthly and gettig bent over and taking it in the rear.
I never gave these people my credit card number?
Are they taking advantage of their access to credit card information to charge your card without you giving it to them. Even if its in the fine-print, people feel safe as long as they don’t provide their credit card numbers.
I’m with Sam. I use their service and am very happy. You can only receive one report from each reporting co. annually. For me that is not enough. Maybe none of you have delt with identity theft. I don’t want to wait more than a month to find out that an account has been opened in my name. $15 a month is worth it to have access to my updated report as much as I want. I found out that someone opened a credit card in my husbands name in FL and we were paying their cable bill, never knowing, and getting late charges, killing our score….a royal mess. FCR.com’s membership alerts you of any new accounts being opened in your name. I found their terms very clear. You all need to take time to understand what you are purchasing and stop playing the victim.
Yes, I am with Sam and Sarah, I have been using their service for two years now and I’m very happy with it. They actually saved me twice from getting something negative to stay in my credit report (once when my bank did not pay my credit card automatically, as it was setup to do and it raised an alert on FCR before my bank cared to notify me. The second time, my work’s Finance Department did not pay the amount I requested to be taken out of my paycheck to my work’s charge card). Yes, I know you can get your credit report ONCE A YEAR for free. However, I have two credit cards, a credit line, a car loan, a business loan and my work’s charge card; FCR tells me right away if any of these many accounts has any problems, even before I get any notification from the different institutions I deal with. Whenever a credit card company or financial institution checks my credit, I get notified right away. That is the best way to ensure that no one is playing with your social security and attempting to steal your identity. Finally, I get to track my score monthly. I payed off a large sum of debt I had in one my credit cards a couple of months ago, and my credit rate changed accordingly. So, stop crying about being scammed. I’m sorry, but checking your credit report once a year does not equate to properly tracking your credit score.
Don’t believe the hype of Sarah, Fernanda, & Sam. Obviously, they are pretending to be customers of FCR.
What customer finds a scam post and writes that they are “proud customers”! I know people who rag on Mcdonald’s and Coca-Cola, but I don’t defend it by saying I am a “proud customer”, and that I should “read the terms and agreements”.
Raise your hands, everyone, who reads the terms and agreements of everything you take part in? Understood, you should read them, but people get FCR to get FREE CREDIT REPORTS.
Sarah and Fernanda ( which is the most hilarious made up name of all time ) talk about identity theft. Which is fine. But people didn’t sign up for FCR for IDENTITY THEFT!
That’s like going to a clothes store for a free shirt, and they charge you for a burger and fries. Yea, maybe I was hungry, but if that was the case, I WOULD GO TO A PLACE THAT SELLS BURGERS!
What kind of response is it from customers who say they like the identity theft service from a company that markets free credit reports? That means the company is still duping the customer, because:
A. They have a service ( identity theft protection ) that they DON’T market anywhere until you sign up or read the fine print ( which 6px font mind you ).
B. They market their service as getting free credit reports. The guy singing in the commercial doesn’t talk of Triple-Advantage.
This is a true scam. If anyone posts that it isn’t, they are either company people POSING as customers, or people making money advertising the service on their website. I am sorry, but if someone says “read the find print” to defend a product, or says that another TOTALLY UNRELATED product is worth paying for when you signed up for a free product, then this company is a scam. Period.