Free Credit Reports That Aren’t Free

I’ve been bombarded lately by the overplaying of a TV commercial that really agitates me.

It features a man dressed as a pirate in a restaurant singing a silly tune about getting his identity stolen. The commercial implies that having your identity stolen will ruin your life and somehow force you to lose your job. The only way to prevent the tragedy, according to the commercial of course, is to pay a small fortune for monthly credit monitoring services.

I’m not saying that losing your identity is easy.

I had my purse stolen a few years ago and I was terrified every time I ran my report. I was simply waiting for that ticking time bomb to explode.

Can I tell you what DIDN’T happen? I didn’t lose my job. Crazy enough, I still had the ability to work and my brain still functioned – unlike what the commercial portrays.

Losing your good name will not force you to sing as a pirate in a restaurant and preying on people who fear this is over the line. In fact, I believe these credit monitoring agencies are a complete rip-off.

You have the right to obtain your credit report FOR FREE on a yearly basis from each of the three major credit reporting agencies (go to annualcreditreport.com). If you’d like a copy of your credit score, it’s an additional $5 – $7.

You can also put a fraud alert on your credit if you feel your information may be at risk. I put a fraud alert on my credit immediately after I financed our home. I knew my social security number was floating around several financial institutions and I didn’t want to take the risk. The fraud alerts last 3 months and can easily be renewed if you feel you need a little extra time.

But here’s the kicker….

You are still at risk – even if you use a credit monitoring company. I was silly enough to hire one of these agencies AND I had a fraud alert on my credit and I was still able to finance $1,500 worth of dental work without a hitch. They didn’t even call to alert me that someone was taking out a loan.

What am I trying to say?

The only person who can RELIABLY monitor your credit is Y-O-U.

You can obtain your report online. You have no excuse.

I check my credit twice a year. You should too.

Stay informed. Know your score. Know what’s on your report.

Posted by Beks on April 25, 2009 at 12:04 AM in Credit Reports/FICO, Saving Money | 5 Comments »
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Jan responded:
Posted: April 25th, 2009 at 3:40 am
I always had the impression that the company wasn’t implying you could lose your job and be forced to work dressed up as a pirate but rather be forced to work a SECOND job to pay off debt that perhaps wasn’t yours.

ITA that it is one’s responsibility to be vigilant with one’s credit score, etc.
emmi responded:
Posted: April 25th, 2009 at 1:08 pm
What I do is use the free credit report system but stagger the reports out 4 months apart. When you go into annualcreditreport.com they ask you which reporting agency you want your report from, so I just choose a different one each time. The free annual is PER agency. They will encourage you to check the others, but I ignore it.
Kev responded:
Posted: April 26th, 2009 at 1:21 pm
A couple of those commercials are funny though. This is my favorite one:

“Well I married my dream girl, I married my dream girl. But she didn’t tell me her credit was bad. So now instead of living in a pleasant suburb, we’re living in the basement at her mom and dad’s. And we can’t get a loan for a respectable home, just because my girl defaulted on some old credit card. If we gone to free credit report.com – I’d be a happy bachelor with a dog and a yard.”

Ha – I sing along every time it comes on.
Patrico responded:
Posted: April 27th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
I agree with Beks. The ‘dream girl’ commercial is even worse – she’s his dream girl, but he wishes he had known her credit was bad, so he could have cut her loose and been a ‘happy bachelor.’ There are a few obvious problems with that…..
Kevin M responded:
Posted: May 1st, 2009 at 12:56 pm
Don’t forget you can always FREEZE your credit.

Yes, it adds a little complexity and hassle factor, but it completely prevents anyone from fraudulently opening new accounts under your name.