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Free Credit Report - A Website Typo Could Be Costly
In 2003, Congress passed the Fair and Accurate Credit
Transactions act (FACT), which made it possible for consumers to
obtain a copy of their credit report for free. In fact, the
legislation makes it possible for consumers to obtain one free
report from each of the three main credit bureaus - Experian,
Trans Union, and Equifax, per year. All that is necessary to do
so is to write, call or log on to the Website the credit bureaus
have created for this purpose. Millions of Americans have done
so, and the program has been called a success so far. There's
just one problem - unscrupulous individuals have created Websites
with similar names, and consumers who type the names wrong have
ended up at sites designed to steal their Social Security
numbers.
At last count, there were more than two hundred registered
domain names with names that were similar to the official
annualcreditreport.com or which contained the phrase "annual
credit report." Since it is quite easy to misspell a domain name,
particularly a long one, many consumers have found themselves at
sites other than the one they intended to visit. Most of these
other Websites exist for the purpose of selling a credit report,
rather than providing them for free, but others are designed to
fool the consumer into providing personal information that the
site owners may be able to exploit for personal gain. Other sites
with similar names merely offer advertising or redirect visitors
to porn sites.
What's to be done? Not much, it would appear. Several of the
sites that were created to fool consumers into providing personal
information have been taken offline, but others will undoubtedly
follow. Any sites that are established outside of the United
States are immune to U.S. law, so it may be difficult for
authorities to take any action. Consumers who are not overly
familiar with the workings of the Internet would be better off
contacting the credit bureaus directly by mail or phone. Anyone
who uses the Internet to obtain a copy of their credit report
should make sure that they are typing the name of the Website
accurately. Failure to do so may lead to involuntarily providing
vital personal information to people who shouldn't have it.
©Copyright 2005 by Retro Marketing.
Charles Essmeier is the owner of Retro Marketing, a firm
devoted to informational Websites, including End-Your-Debt.com, a
site devoted to personal bankruptcy, debt
consolidation and credit counseling, and HomeEquityHelp.com, a
site devoted to information regarding mortgages and home equity
loans.
MORE RESOURCES:
Credit - Google News
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