Formalities Involved in Applying for a Free Credit Report
With effect from September 1, 2005, every citizen is entitled to get a free copy of their credit report from each of the three major credit bureaus namely Equifax, TransUnion and Exprerian each year. Customers can apply for a free credit report either by email or over phone. If you are planning to download it from the official www.annualcreditreport.com site, make sure that you have landed in the right site. Be wary of imposter sites that might rip you off. In case you happen to land on a site that asks for a fee for your credit report, then you can be sure that it is a spam site.
Many people find it difficult to access these reports as they are being bombarded with spam offers of credit reports for a fee. Never pay for something that you are entitled to get for free.
Keep an eye for some of the common pitfalls that might prove a costly mistake for you while applying for a free credit report. Do not use a public computer to access your free credit report as there are risks for data theft. To get a federally mandated free credit report, there is no need to give an email address as is widely misunderstood. It is optional and in case you wish to keep your email address confidential you can choose not to disclose the same. While giving the social security number, you can specifically instruct to mask all but the last four digits of your SSN.
In case you are applying for a free credit report over phone, confirm that the report will be mailed to a secure mailbox, to ensure that the information remains confidential.
Applying For a Free Credit Report over Phone
The automated system of the will confirm your identity and in case you have a home phone, it is recommended to use this number while availing this service as it ensures faster results. However, in case you have a complex last name, or have a strong regional accent, you might find the automatic phone system a bit inconvenient. In case you are facing problem to use the telephonic system, you can use the mailing method, to avail your free credit report.
Instead of surfing the web for free credit reports, it is better to log in to the official website of www.annualcreditreport.com to get free credit reports. Most of the top search engine results might not offer free credit reports and could be offering credit monitoring services, which are paid. There are bogus websites that involve in phishing scams and data theft, which could hit you hard. So, make sure not to reveal your confidential information to the sites that you are not sure about. Never respond to a scam offer to get a free credit report as you would be setting off a spate of spam emails.
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