Avoid FREE CREDIT REPORT Scams - Here Is the Safest Way to Go

2 April 2007

The Feds have given you the right- by law - to receive a FREE annual credit report from each of the three credit repositories. The Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) requires Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion- three credit reporting agencies - to provide consumers with a FREE credit report every 12 months.

There are three ways you can receive your own report:

1. Via a mailng addresss
2. By calling a toll-free number.
3. By visiting a specialized website.

Before we list the web address of the site, we want to remind you that there are many counterfeit websites out there hoping to cash in on this mandated option. They lure you in through careful online and print advertising - often through banks and credit card companies - using teasers and official-sounding names. There are sites all over Google and other search engines that are similar. Some sites take advantage of misspellings and sloppy typing to get your link. BE CAREFUL. You do not want your personal information in the wrong hands.

These "imposter" websites will allow you a free report, then upcharge for subsequent reports. While there are legitimate services who will monitor your credit for a fee, they are not a part of the FCRA system.

The authorized website is at https://www.annualcreditreport.com. ANNUAL CREDIT REPORT dot com. This website will ALWAYS open in a separate window. This I know from a letter I received when I requested a link to my website. It is their policy.

The SAFEST way to get to annualcreditreport.com is by linking directly through the Federal Trade Commission website. Despite popular media depictions and late night TV talk show rhetoric, the government websites appear to be considerably more secure than your average site. Linking is the safest way.

The FTC webpages about consumer credit are

here: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/freereports.htm and

here: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/edcams/credit/index.html

You'll see the difference - one's more colorful than the other. Cuter. More pictures.

Now your credit report contains information about an individual's payment history, debts, legal matters such as judgments, collections, and bankruptcies. Your address and social security number - as well as employment history - is there, too. Safeguard that information.

Even if you are not buyinga home, refinancing, or making a credit purchase - major or minor - you need to should consider getting your credit report for these reasons:

1. To deter to identity theft - even if you aren't using your credit, you need to make certain no one else is, either. Identity theft victims find out when damage is done and the repair to name and credit costly and time-consuming.
2. To check for accuracy - approximately one-third of credit reports have errors. People with common last names (Smith, Jones, etc) and multi-generational family names (Jr, Sr, III, etc). Imagine what it's like in the Foreman household with George - boxer and grill champion - with all of his sons named George, too.
3. To monitor reporting- a simple error in payment date on a mortgage could delay a home loan closing for weeks while the error is being corrected - and rescoring, while possible, is expensive and requires an imposing burden of proof.

Remember, when going to the free credit report website, you will need to provide at least your name, address, Social Security number, and date of birth. Other information MAY be necessary, but understand it is all about confirming YOU as the subject of the credit report.

The phone numbers and address are in the bottom paragraph for your convenience, exactly as printed on the FTC website. You can use it, but if you're as wise as we believe, you will NOT take our word for it, but go to the FTC website instead. Your tax dollars at work.

Art Blanchet

Bill Quigley

To order, visit annualcreditreport.com, call 1-877-322-8228, or complete the Annual Credit Report Request Form and mail it to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281. The form is on the back of this brochure; or you can print it from ftc.gov/credit. Do not contact the three nationwide consumer reporting companies individually. They are providing free annual credit reports only through annualcreditreport.com, 1-877-322-8228, and Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281.