Don't Wind Up Paying for Your "Free" Credit Report

Monday, March 26, 2007

Contact: Bill Cloud

With the high incidence of identity thefts reported in Georgia – the state ranked 7^th in the nation for 2006 according to a report from the Federal Trade Commission – many Georgians are monitoring their credit status by requesting free credit reports online.  This is a prudent measure to take, especially given that consumers often do not realize they have been victims of identity theft until weeks or months after the fact.  However, Joe Doyle, Administrator of the Governor’s Office of Consumer Affairs, warns consumers that there are a number of companies that advertise “free credit reports” that aren’t really free.  Sometimes the company requires you to purchase credit monitoring or other services in order to obtain your free report.  In other cases, you may be automatically given a free 30-day trial of a credit monitoring service, which you will then be charged for every month unless you cancel the service. 

Under Federal law, consumers are entitled to one free credit report per year from each of the three credit reporting agencies:  Equifax, Experian and TransUnion.  The only official web site through which you can obtain these free reports is: www.annualcreditreport.com.  Or, you may call the central request line at 877-322-8228.  Consumers are cautioned that a misspelling of the web site address or conducting an Internet search for phrases such as “free credit report”, “free credit history” or “free credit rating” may lead to a site that charges for their services. 

Georgia is among several states that allow consumers to request an additional two free credit reports per year from the three credit reporting agencies.  These requests, however, need to be made directly to the credit bureaus themselves.  Following is their contact information:

Equifax Credit Information Services, Inc.
P. O. Box 740241
Atlanta, Georgia 30374
800-685-1111

Experian National Consumer Assistance Center
P. O. Box 2002
Allen, Texas 75013
General inquiries: 888-397-3742
Additional free credit report: 866-200-6020
www.experian.com/freestate
www.experian.com/reportaccess(if denied credit within past 60 days)

TransUnion Consumer Relations
P.O. Box 2000
Chester, Pennsylvania 19022
General inquiries: 800-916-8800
Additional free credit report: 800-888-4213
http://annualcreditreport.transunion.com/pdf/DisclosureRequest.pdf

When requesting a credit report, you will need to provide your full name; current address; Social Security number; date of birth; and most recent former address.

For additional information, please contact the Governor’s Office of Consumer Affairs.