Home > Free Credit Report > Ordering A Free Credit Report Online? Beware Of Scam Artists!
Ordering A Free Credit Report Online? Beware Of Scam Artists! |
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If you're about to order your free credit report online, caution is the word for you. There are many swindlers on the prowl who'll sneak away with your personal information and you'd never know. There have been outrageous cases of identity thefts in which the crooks stole the personal data of about 145,000 people when they ordered for free credit reports online. Credit card companies make their own rules. They can change their interest rates, and that includes fixed rates too, any time, as long as they send a written notification to the cardholders. Even a single late payment made by a credit card holder gives a chance to the issuer to hike the interest rate. Some financial experts are of the opinion that the thing called fixed rate does not exist in the world of credit cards! In 2004, Consumer Action had conducted a survey of credit card issuers. The survey revealed some astonishing facts: 31% of issuers charge a penalty after one late payment, while more than 35% issuers did that after two late payments in a time span of six months. The average penalty rate for late payments was found to be 22.9%. However, even if you pay your credit card bill on time, don't be too happy. Nearly 50% of credit card issuers have a universal default policy, which they keep as a secret. Under this universal default policy, the issuers levy a penalty rate on your credit card if you're late in paying your mortgage. Credit cards are perilous for your credit score. They can pull down 30% of your overall score. This again brings to light the importance of free credit report. To keep yourself updated of your credit ratings, you have to review your free credit report regularly. You can get one free credit report, which usually costs about $10, from any of the three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. Besides this, you also need to have a critical examination of your monthly statements that comprise your credit cards, bank accounts, investment accounts and mortgages. If you find any unfamiliar credit transaction, inform it to the credit bureau at once. The new law has enabled people to have an easy access to their free credit reports, but at the same time, it has opened doors for identity thieves too. While ordering your free credit report online, you may come across many advertisement offers, that claim to remove accurate negative information from your free credit report so that you can get a credit card, an auto loan, a home mortgage or even a job. Beware of such ads! Many people ordering their free credit reports online are enticed by such ads and fall into various scams. The World Privacy Forum, a consumer watchdog group, was alarmed by the growing cases of identity thefts and took the step of calling up the official online site to order free credit reports. The group was so disheartened to see a string of problems that it advised the customers to stop ordering free credit reports online! The official site to get free credit reports is www.annualcreditreport.com. While trying to log on to that site, the investigators of the World Privacy Forum were often misled to illegal sites. A big problem that the privacy group dug out was that the three major credit bureaus were reluctant to link legitimate news, consumers and other organizations to the official website. This means that the consumers were at a great risk of misspelling the name of the official site, as they had to type the name instead of clicking onto a safe link. So, if you've decided to order your free credit report online, recheck the address of the website before going further. Make sure that it's spelt correctly. If you encounter pop-up ads or if you realize that the site is not secure, close your browser and start all over again. Look for a padlock logo on the web page. It's the mark of a secure site. While ordering free credit report, assure yourself that you're at the authentic site. Stay away from racketeers. |
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