Clark Howard's Tips

The ONLY place to get free credit reports

March 14, 2005

Entering the term "free credit report" into Google's search function returns more than 22 million hits. This is a hot entrepreneurial area right now and that is not necessarily a good thing.

Tons of criminal outfits are claiming they will give you a free credit report, as long as you enter your information first. These scam artists then use that information to steal your identity.

CLARK'S TIP TOPICS Consumer Tips Managing Money Banks & Credit Cards Technology Health & Healthcare Car Costs Homes Phones & Utilities Small Business Travel & Leisure Find more consumer advice in Clark Howard's book, "Get Clark Smart"

You need to know that there is only one legitimate Web site that offers you a free credit report with no strings attached. The Web site, annualcreditreport.com is not directly accessible so there is no need to get confused.

People in the West and Midwest can now get their reports for free. The entire country will have access by September of this year.

For more details, visit the site — and only that site! And do not give out your personal information to anyone you don't know.

More Clark Howard Credit and Banking Tips The dangers of home-equity borrowing  ID checks, minimum purchase rules a no-no with credit cards  The Mortgage Lender Implode-O-Meter  Advance-fee loans are back with a vengeance  Wachovia, WaMu say goodbye to option payment loans  Cycling your unused credit cards back into the mix  Banks offer diverging interest rates on savings and CDs  Mortgage bailout proposal to help banks, not homeowners  Credit limits being reduced without your knowledge?!  65 million paying for credit monitoring/fraud alert services  Full list