Comments on: Protect yourself: get a free credit report

By: Tim

Tim — Tue, 26 Aug 2008 21:31:26 +0000

I happen to be one of the owners of MyJunkTree and as a new company I search the web to see if we are getting any visibility out there and it seems the word is getting out. Thanks for the support.

We launched the company because we were tired of all the junk mail we were receiving and we personally did not want to bounce all over the web to contact all the different companies to stop it all. First and foremost we wanted to let people choose what they wanted to let come to their home knowing that some people really do like some of the coupons and catalogs. So our clients choose what they want stopped.

We also had to provide a service that is different than the other services out there, so here is what we offer:

1. We have a database of over 1300 catalogs that you can choose to stop.
2. We have over a 2000 charities/Non-Profits that you can stop solicitations from.
3. Stop the delivery of the national phone directories.
4. Stop the delivery of the weekly coupons.
5. Stop the general credit card offers as well as the ones from your own major bank.
6. Stop the miscellaneous junk mail from the data brokers.
7. You can register on the National Do Not Call Registry from the website.
8. You can order your no strings attached free annual credit report right from the website.
9. We plant trees with every new membership.

And, yes we are a paid service and yes you can do everything that we do for free, if you want to do all the research and spend the time contacting the companies yourself it can easily be done. We have just done all of the legwork for our clients and feel there is value in the service we provide.

By: Identity Theft Blog

Identity Theft Blog — Sun, 24 Aug 2008 01:35:29 +0000

The four ways to protect yourself from credit report are fantastic. I recently learned that TransUnion is being told to offer a 9 month credit monitoring service. That’s a great incentive for those that don’t take the time to check their credit.

One other way to protect yourself from identity theft is actually by getting denied for credit. You are entitled to a review of your credit report when you apply for a credit card, for example, and get denied by the credit granter. Usually, you will have 60 days to do so, but I think it’s a great way to review it online and dispute those “false” credit entries. I have more information about this and other identity theft protection and prevention techniques on http://myidentitytheftblog.com

All the best

By: sathus

sathus — Wed, 20 Aug 2008 17:45:48 +0000

Thats true, “AnnualCreditReport.com” gives you a free credit report and there are no hidden offers or services. But, what about Credit Scores ? Are there any websites offering credit scores for free.
I recently came accross this website “http://www.GetUrScore.com”. This does provide the links to various providers of Free Credit Reports and Credit Scores and also gives the comparisons on the offers from different providers. But most of the providers will require you to sign up for services like “Credit Monitoring” or “Identity Theft subscription”

By: Zak Nicola

Zak Nicola — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 16:37:33 +0000

Thanks for the solid info Matt. It’s hard for me to trust the ads and sites that are always in my face for checking credit. I hope others find this info useful as well, although I think the audience that you have would rather get a link from you on the subject than read about the best free resources out there.

By: Garetjax

Garetjax — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 22:11:57 +0000

Matt, came to this thru your post on junk mail. So many people get roped into the wrong free credit report web sites, they always have a hook. annualcreditreport.com is the only authorized site to provide this no strings attached credit report. On thier site they recommend ordering a new report every four months. I get mine from MyJunkTree, they have a link to the above site and they remind me every four months to order a new report. Monitoring your credit report is your first line of defense in protecting your identity. I like Stop Junk Mail because I can stop all the credit card offers and other junk mail also.

By: sai

sai — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 19:12:35 +0000

Thanks for the info, Matt. Also, it’s important to check your child credit report. More info I wrote on this at http://www.childcreditreport.com

thanks,

By: Jim Gaudet

Jim Gaudet — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 02:34:55 +0000

First to Chip - “how long before mattcutts.com ranks for “free credit report”?” - That’s too funny…

It just so happens that I had to do some work for a company in this field. Of course it was to help them on the their SERP’s but it is very hard for this particular line of business.

The big thing I learned and everyone should know is that you can really get a good hold of your credit if you have the time, and it is FREE. ftc.gov has everything you need to know, and you should really take the time to read the Fair Credit Reporting Act, as well as the Consumer Credit File Rights. These documents give you all the information you need to know about what to do when you receive your Credit Reports and find INACCURATE items on the reports.

I haven’t posted here very often so I do not want to post any links, but you can go to ftc.gov and with a little searching find all your answers.

~ Jim

By: Nils

Nils — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 11:25:20 +0000

good thing, that reminded me, that there’s a good side to ID cards and data stored. ID theft is an unknown crime in my country (germany)

By: Erik

Erik — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 00:52:56 +0000

Another good resource, mainly for identity theft protection services that cost money, is http://www.nextadvisor.com/identity_theft_protection_services/. I think it’s worth the money to get one of these if you’re really worried - they’re proactive vs. just checking your credit report which is reactive. NextAdvisor.com has some good info on their FAQs and blog, too.

By: Geno

Geno — Wed, 02 Jul 2008 20:37:53 +0000

Hey Matt, great topic. In something related to this, I think google adwords should police the free credit report searches a lot better. Basically, searchers think they are getting the free credit report from the government, but end up paying over $30 a month for credit monitoring service which sounds impossible to cancel. Do a search, and notice the tiny font where they say they charge you. It’s pretty hard to find, if you ask me. Especially with the word “free” in the domain.

Links from msnbc report about this is here:

http://redtape.msnbc.com/2007/07/costly-free-cre.html

Also, lots of complaints from ripoffreport.com

http://www.ripoffreport.com/searchresults.asp?q1=ALL&q4=&q6=&q3=&q2=&q7=&searchtype=0&submit2=Search!&q5=FREE+CREDIT+REPORT