Free credit report - Watch out for fake Internet sites

When hunting for a free credit report on the World Wide Web, make sure you type in the site name correctly, or you could find yourself a victim of a financial scam. Consumers can now get a copy of their free credit report from a special Internet site.

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The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT) act, passed in 2004, provides individuals the chance to receive copies of their credit reports for free. Tens of thousands of People in the United States have used the credit report program, which is straightforward to use and takes only a few minutes. While consumers may use the telephone to request credit records, the most common method used by consumers is to visit a Website set up by the three credit reporting agencies expressly for that purpose. Not only can a report be obtained at no charge, but the law gives every American the opportunity to get one report every year from each of the three bureaus. Going to the wrong Website by mistake can take you to Websites that charge for the reports, or even worse, Web sites that appear to be the actual site but exist only to steal financial information for purposes of identity theft. A lot of businesses have registered domain names that are quite close in appearance to the correct free credit report Web site, and thousands of consumers have visited these Web sites by mistake.
 

A lot of of these fradulent sites exist to sell reports to people who otherwise might receive them for free. Since the businesses make it understood that they are selling the reports, they aren't really committing fraud; they are just taking advantage of a situation created by people who make a typographical error. At last count, there were more than two hundred Websites registered with URLS that were nearly identical to the official site, annualcreditreport.com. Sites with names like annualcreditreportonline.com are common, as they represent the sort of thing that a person might type in by accident. Some Web sites have been established to resemble the actual Web site, and are supposed to trick the visitor into thinking that they are at the real site. Sites that are created to steal Social Security numbers exist so that the opportunists behind them can use the numbers to practice identity theft or credit theft, all at the expense of the unwitting Internet site visitor. A few scam Web sites ask for the Social Security number of the individual and then fail to provide a copy of the requested document.

Consumers who do not often make use of the Internet or who are not particularly familiar with how Websites work should ask for help from an informed friend before entering the name of the Web site. Failing to use precautions when going on the Internet may result in a rather expensive lesson in crime. If you are leery of using the Web, it might be a wise idea to obtain a copy of tyour financial history via telephone. The U.S. government and watchful Internet Providers are shutting down these types of Websites as fast as they can, but these Websites are frequently operated outside the country, which makes enforcement tough.