You've seen the commercials. A young man sings about his credit woes and wishes he'd checked his credit report through freecreditreport.com. If "free" is in the title, shouldn't you assume you don't have to pay? Not exactly.

Freecreditreport.com Will Charge You After 7 Days

When you visit freecreditreport.com, you do get your free credit report and credit score. However, you are also automatically enrolled in Triple Advantage Credit Monitoring. Your first 7 days are free, then your credit card will be billed $14.95 each month unless you cancel the service. How many people actually remember to cancel the service within 7 days? Does the average person even need continuous credit monitoring?

Information about the Triple Advantage Credit Monitoring service is included on the website for freecreditreport.com. However, the words, "America's #1 Free Online Credit Report" are much more prominent and the button you click reads, "Click Here to see your Free Credit Report and Score".

Read carefully or you may miss the information about having to cancel the credit monitoring. If you don't keep close tabs on your credit card bill, it would be easy to overlook a charge of $14.95 every month. That adds up to an annual charge of $179.40.

Basically, this is a free gift with purchase. You pay for credit monitoring and receive your credit report for free. If you don't need the credit monitoring, why pay for it just to receive the credit report you can receive for free elsewhere?

Annualcreditreport.com is Completely Free

By law, you are entitled to receive your credit report from the three major credit reporting agencies, Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax. Visit annualcreditreport.com to receive your reports for free without being required to sign up for credit monitoring.

Every twelve months, return to annualcreditreport.com to receive your three completely free credit reports. For most people, an annual credit report is sufficient. You can check for suspicious activity and bills that are erroneously accounted for on your credit report.

I have used annualcreditreport.com for the past 4 years and I have never been charged for using it. I have received credit reports for myself and my husband with no issues. We will continue to use this free service every 12 months in order to keep an eye on our credit history.

There is no reason to use freecreditreport.com when you actually can get a free credit report every year. Always be wary about entering your credit card number online. Read all the terms before you sign up for something or you just may wind up paying for something you don't want or need.

Learn more about this author, Kristy Martz.
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