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Free Credit Report – A Website Typo Could Be Costly
By: Charles Essmeier
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 free credit report Website. 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.
About the Author:
©Copyright 2005 by Retro Marketing. Charles Essmeier is the owner of Retro
Marketing, a firm devoted to informational Websites, including http://www.homeequityhelp.net,
a site devoted to debt consolidation and credit counseling, and http://www.homeequityhelp.net,
a site devoted to information regarding home equity lending.
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