Unknown to most Americans is the passage of an amendment to the
Fair Credit Reporting Act (FCRA) that Congress passed into law
in 2004. This change in law now allows every U.S. citizen to
obtain one free copy of their credit report from each of the
three main reporting agencies (Experian, Trans Union, and
Equifax) once per year. In order to avoid a crush of traffic to
the official free credit report Website, the plan is being
rolled out in stages.
Those living in the West, Midwest and South can obtain copies of
their reports now; those in the Northeast will have to wait
until September 2005. Those who are seeking a copy of their free
credit report should be careful, though. While there is an
official Website for the free credit reports, other Websites are
also offering them for "free" but those who visit those sites
may find that what is promised is not what is delivered. And the
price could be steep.
Obtaining a copy of your credit report through the official
Website is easy, and takes only a few minutes. Applicants need
only provide their name, address, Social Security number and
date of birth. It's a fairly simple process, but there are many
companies, some legitimate and some rather unscrupulous, who
would like to obtain such information for other purposes. As a
result, scams are flourishing throughout the Internet as people
flock to Websites to obtain their "free" credit report.
Some of these companies have built Websites that look very
similar to the official one and may even have similar Web
addresses. What they offer is said to be free, but they are
really only interested in stealing your name, date of birth and
Social Security number. With this information, they can steal
your identity and proceed to run up huge amounts of debt in your
name.
A change in the Federal bankruptcy law that takes effect in
October 2005 will hold everyone responsible for their debt, even
if it is incurred by someone using a stolen identity. Other
companies solicit business by e-mail, offering free information,
but these are usually "phishing" expeditions, where the senders
of the e-mail are only interested in having you reply by
providing your sensitive personal information. The end result of
the phishing trips is a stolen identity. One company is
currently being investigated by the FTC for fraud. They promised
a "free" report, but required a credit card number for purposes
of "verification." Customers were astonished to receive credit
card bills for as much as $75 for their "free" product!
These scams can easily be avoided. It is a rare occasion when
you receive something for nothing, but you can receive one free
copy of your credit report each year from each of the three main
bureaus simply (and only) by visiting the official Website.
Copyright 2004 Leadsandtraffic.com
About the author:
Talbert Williams offers debt consolidation, debt reduction,
credit card debt referrals and advice. For more information,
articles, news, tools and valuable resources on debt solutions,
visit this site:
http://www.1debtfreedom.com
