Free Credit Report

June 1, 2005 2:45 PM

If you live in the South/Southeast U.S., as of today you are able to get your Free Annual Credit Report via Equifax, Transunion & Experion. Chose one service every fourth month and get reports year-round.
posted by Pressed Rat (12 comments total)

Uh oh. Somebody else better tell North Carolina and Virginia that they're no longer considered part of the "South", 'cuz I ain't gonna.

Look at the map and see -- Virginia and North Carollina are very clearly lumped in with the Northeast. I've heard of Virginia being tied to mid-(and even occasionally northern-)Atlantic states before, but North Carolina?

It's a good thing that they didn't cross over South Carolina. Then we really would have a civil war on our hands.

Oh, and go light on me, fellas. This is my first comment, ever.
posted by Deathalicious at 3:36 PM on June 1, 2005

Hm. Before I go handing out all the information required to steal my soul on the internet, does anyone know if this is truly legimitate and not some elaborate phishing scheme?
posted by Hal Mumkin at 4:33 PM on June 1, 2005

I've heard that if you get or anyone requests your credit report too much, it actually hurts your scores.
posted by amberglow at 4:35 PM on June 1, 2005

related: John Edwards is guestblogging on TPMCafe (a new offshoot of talkingpointsmemo) and has 2 posts on the poor and credit, etc.
posted by amberglow at 4:36 PM on June 1, 2005

So far as I can tell, the link is to just another "free credit report" site, no different than the myriad other "free credit report" sites.

Pressed Rat, why is this particular site 'special'?
posted by mischief at 5:05 PM on June 1, 2005

I found this site a few months ago from the Federal Trade Commission's site here, so hopefully it's not a phishing scheme.
posted by gummo at 5:21 PM on June 1, 2005

Then I know I don't trust it.
posted by mischief at 5:34 PM on June 1, 2005

Call Don't Click-Why It's Smarter to Order a Credit Report Via the Phone ...
... For complete findings of the "Call, Don't Click" report and a consumer tip sheet, see: www.worldprivacyforum.org or ...
www.privacyrights.org/ar/CallDontClick.htm - 11k - May 30, 2005 -

There are a zillion phishing sites
The legit sites pay fake sites referral fees
The legit sites hide "subscribe me" checkboxes at the bottom of the page
Many, many other reasons.
posted by hank at 6:17 PM on June 1, 2005

here is the site from the FTC, all you haters.

i did this today, no it does not hurt your credit, its not totally complete, it leaves out your score (with an option to pay for one, of course)
posted by yeahyeahyeahwhoo at 6:44 PM on June 1, 2005

Yeah, this is a part of the update of the Fair Credit Reporting Act from a number of years ago...
posted by ajpresto at 6:54 PM on June 1, 2005

I got two of mine off line, but after trying the Transunion web site, talking to a computer on their phone system and then a human at their offices, they couldn't verify who I said I was ... because every bit of information they have on me is evidently incorrect. Now I have to mail in for that one. It's going to be interesting to see, and I'm sure there are going to be problems with the Transunion report. I know I have never lived or worked in San Antonio, and I guarantee you I know the address I was living at before my current one having lived there for 13 years. They insisted I had never lived at that address at all!

I found it a little disconcerting to have a commercial business telling me that I am not who I say I am because the information about myself that I know to be true doesn't match what they have on their records. Several of my friends have had trouble verifying their identity with Transunion as well for the same reasons.
posted by Orb at 7:20 PM on June 1, 2005

404 for me.
posted by grouse at 2:25 AM on June 2, 2005