Home > Free Credit Report > Free Credit Report: Do Not Fall In The Trap Of Fraud Domain Sites
Free Credit Report: Do Not Fall In The Trap Of Fraud Domain Sites |
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Instead of ordering your
free credit report online, consumers who qualify to order a federally mandated annual free credit report, are being advised by the Privacy Forum to call a toll free number which exposes them to lesser potential hazards and they will not have to face numerous challenges which they might have to encounter if they use the official online site. They will also be protected from the potentially confusing sales and marketing information at the official annual free credit report site. There are other hazards posed by imposter Web domains, which have names that are close misspellings of the official free credit report site. The Privacy Forum has identified 96 such sites, out of which 50 were active and luring unsuspecting consumers to questionable sites. They are also known to label their home pages as the official site, even though they are not in fact the official site. There may be many more such sites. These deceptive imposter sites impose a fee to view your credit report, which is federally mandated to be a free credit report. These imposter domains also resort to online advertising and other marketing schemes to get paid for their pay per click activities, which also operate through affiliate marketing programs. As the credit bureaus are refusing to allow legitimate news organizations, consumer groups, and other legitimate companies to link to the official free credit report site, consumers have even a greater chance of misspelling domains because they must type the name in instead of click on a link. However, affiliate marketing programs are being allowed active links to their commercial service sites. There are only four sites that are able to link to the official free credit report site: the FTC and the three credit bureaus, Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion. It is very easy for consumers to get trapped by imposter domains as they have to type in or copy and paste the free credit report site address, unless they are clicking from one of the four sites mentioned above and since the numerous deceptive sites are actively misleading consumers by claiming to be the official site, and are typically only one letter or one easy typo away from the real site. Experian, one of the credit bureaus, took out at least 28 known domains of common typos on July 27, 2004, but left other potential domain names free to be picked up by pay per click companies. As such, consumers have to find their way through a plethora of imposter free credit report sites that exist only to grab your money. Keyword advertising campaigns and affiliate marketing programs are helping many imposter domain companies to advertise their commercial services. Keywords such as "free credit report online" have been noticed by an online ad or affiliate marketing campaign which sent consumers to Experian and other credit services via the imposter free credit report sites. All the three major credit bureaus, Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax have active affiliate marketing campaigns that encourage domain owners to send visitors to their commercial, for-pay service sites. If consumers are finally able to find their way out of the entangled mesh of spurious domains and reach the official free credit report site, they are nowhere near the end of their challenges. For example, TransUnion has created a small, pre-checked box at the bottom of a registration page and it is through this box that consumers automatically selected by them can receive marketing information. TransUnion shares the consumer's information with its business affiliates and partners, if the box is left checked. TransUnion is also requesting consumers' e-mail addresses in such a way that does not indicate that the submission of the information is voluntary and is not necessary for getting a free credit report. In addition to the above, there are four different privacy policies that consumers have to read and understand. |
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