These days your credit score can literally make or break your financial future. It is imperative that you monitor your credit report carefully and on a regular basis. The good news is that obtaining access to your credit report is absolutely free! How, you might ask? It is the law that each and every person is offered one free credit report from each of the 3 major credit bureaus a year.
While this is a great tool to help you keep an eye on exactly what’s going on, or at least what credit card agencies, banks and even employers are reporting about you, it does not entitle you to your actual credit score. This number is calculated by each bureau, however in order for you to have access to it, you must pay an additional fee. While surfing the web, you may have stumbled across certain sites offering this as a service. Taking into consideration that identity theft has seen a rapid surge in recent years, how can you be sure that these sites are legitimate? “Phishing” is a term that refers to visiting a web site whether you are familiar with the site or not.
After perusing said site, and deciding to make a purchase, the site will ask for verification of information such as billing address and credit card number in order to process the purchase. While this part of the process is usually legit, you may in the next few moments either be prompted by a pop up window on your browser, or via e-mail to enter additional information for this same purchase.
The e-mail you receive may look professional and even come from an address seeming to be associated with the trusted site. Entering your information in these types of situations is a gray area. If you are unsure about whether or not phishing is occurring, call the company with which you placed the order immediately and explain the situation.
They should be able to advise you on whether or not the e-mail/pop ups are valid. Knowing that this can happen anywhere on line, it is more than important to find a site that you can trust in order to obtain sensitive information such as your credit report. Because you will be disclosing personal information in order to retrieve the report, it is of utmost importance that your source for doing so be accredited. Annualcreditreport.com is the official site offering these services. It is safely endorsed by all 3 major consumer reporting companies such as Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.
The site has gone above and beyond taking the necessary security measures to ensure a worry free customer experience. In addition to free credit report services, you will find information on how to add a fraud alert to your credit report in order to prohibit further miss use of your accounts in case your identity has already been compromised. Another bonus of utilizing this site is that annualcreditreport.com makes a promise to never approach consumers via email, telemarketing or direct mail solicitations. Which will help you feel even safer about the information that you provide to them. What are you waiting for? Ensure that your identity remains your own, and keep an eye on exactly what’s being reported about you by visiting annualcreditreport.com in order to maintain your happy and stress free financial future!