Comments on: Is FreeCreditReport.com a Scam?

By: Spraynard

Spraynard — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 16:22:49 +0000

I used this service and was horrified to find that my credit is in the 400-450 range. After some digging around I found out that someone had been using my credit to buy scale model replicas of whale genitalia! It turns out that the guy who was ripping me off was also a convicted arsonist and morbidly obese to the point of immobility! When the police led a strike team into his “Den of Debauchery” (a squalid studio apartment 300 feet below a haunted waterpark), I volunteered to be the pointman. After a lengthy climb down some cargo netting, I kicked down the fat man’s door. Zounds! In front of me was the fat man, leaning back in his motorized scooter, rubbing together his corpulent claws in satisfaction.
He wore a toga made out of soiled bed sheets and wore on his head a paper crown from a BK big kids meal.
“I’ve been expecting you,” He said, in a garbled voice that seemed choked by fat.
“Now…to battle.”
Now his scooter made a low whirring noise, and a klaxon sounded from the wall. A hidden compartment opened up on the scooter’s backside and four spindly metallic legs sprung out. The legs lifted up the fat man as he let loose a guttural chuckle.
Two vulcan cannons emerged from the sides of the scooter and opened fire. I sprung from my crouch and rolled to evade the 20 mm. AP rounds that rocketed from the twin barrels. A second after I had moved the loveseat behind me was ripped apart from the fire. Luckily the fat man was a bad shot.
I was now up and running at full speed and I hurdled over an end table and took aim with my Pancor Jackhammer. I pulled the trigger three times and three 12 gauge shells flew from the barrel with explosive force and met their target. The fat mans face. The lead tore through his soft flesh, blowing brain matter and bits of fragmented bone everywhere. It made sense that the arterial spray was so massive, he was a large man. The mechanical legs buckled and the scooter fell on it’s side. I had won.

Later, I was recognized for my achievment and was awarded the congressional medal of honor. Barack Obama shook my hand and Nancy Pelosi offered me a number of sexual favors that I could take advantage of any time.
It was a good arbor day.

By: wortz

wortz — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 19:59:16 +0000

The author of this article and all the responders so far are missing the “BIG PICTURE”…as usual.

What is a big scam, is the credit reports/scores in the first place. Why don’t we finally realize that the system is obviously only a way to “keep an eye” on us and force is to do or not do things.
Isn’t it ridiculous in the first place that we can not have access to our own information?
That is like not being able to know about our health files, school grades, etc.
Why can’t people see anything beyond their own noses?
Identity theft is another bank invention to keep us in line and in fear constantly.
If it is such a big problem, why not give everyone an account number and access to the scores, reports and info 24/7?
That would take care of ID theft in a second, but they don’t want that to happen, because fear is one more control tool.
Don’t ever use credit, pay cash and only buy what you can afford and you will never have to worry or care about your credit score.
Wake up people!

By: Anonymous

Anonymous — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 21:51:57 +0000

I don’t understand why one should automatically(mandatorily) get signed on while getting their free credit report. If subscription is automatic, why not unsubscribe automatically on the 7th day?? Obviously they cash in on the fact that many will forget to cancel. A clear case of “bad faith”.

By: Ed

Ed — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 23:59:04 +0000

I just cancelled my subscription after noticing that the 14.99 jumped to 24.99. I inquired and they said that I had ordered a detailed report online. I 100% did not do this. I did click the link to do this – and it takes you to a second page that you have to check and click through – two steps I would remember doing. The service rep insisted that I was just being forgetful. Uh. No. DO NOT use this service people. It is a horrible scam! Hidden charges abound!

By: DECEPTIVE TRADE PRACTICES, FRAUD & SCAM: Free Credit Report/ Experian « Justice In America For All

Mon, 15 Jun 2009 11:42:04 +0000

[...] http://www.fivecentnickel.com/.....om-a-scam/ Possibly related posts: (automatically generated)Free Credit Report Scam (ishness)Check Your Credit ReportExperian Credit Report + Free ScoreHigh Credit Score Increases Likelihood of ID Theft, Experian Says [...]

By: Patricia

Patricia — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 16:18:17 +0000

Thank you so much for this information. I have always been very mindful of my finances and pride myself with my very nice credit score of 728. Although not as nice as you and your wife’s. But, I give myself a little handicap for being a single mom for 16 years, supporting two teenagers, no child support and no degree (but still a goal of mine). I (just yesterday) was notified that I will be losing my job due to downsizing and am scared to death, with this economy, that I will lose everything I’ve worked so hard for. I do have debt I need to remove but wonder if bankruptcy is a better option for me. If I had no credit card debt I feel I can sustain myself even on unemployment, but am truly worried.

By: Your Credit Score Matters | My Journey to Millions

Your Credit Score Matters | My Journey to Millions — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 11:32:01 +0000

[...] is not referring to those annoying singing dudes. They are actually paid actors for a company that jumped on the bandwagon and seem to be [...]

By: Doug

Doug — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 15:25:00 +0000

Scam? No

Purposefully misleading? Yes

Bad idea? Yes

By: Nickel

Nickel — Thu, 07 May 2009 00:25:26 +0000

Joanna: Yes, annualcreditreport.com is the real deal, with no strings attached. In fact, I mentioned it in my article above. Rotating through the different bureaus is a great strategy — I do that myself. The downside is that it doesn’t provide you with access to your credit score. For that, you’ll either have to pay or use one of these free trials.

By: Joanna

Joanna — Wed, 06 May 2009 23:47:49 +0000

There is also annualcreditreport.com – now that the 3 credit reporting companies have to allow one free report (from each) per year, this is a way to get the report without paying anything – although each of the individual report companies will charge you a nominal fee (usually around $8) to get your FICO credit score.
I typically do one from each of the companies over the course of a year (once every 4 months) to keep track of my credit score and check for any usual activity. The trick is to keep track of which company you use at each time – if you order more than one from them per year, they will charge.
Happy credit!

By: Phinance

Phinance — Tue, 05 May 2009 21:50:36 +0000

Ramsey is trying to get famous taking the anti-credit score stance, when in reality no one really cares about it unless their score is bad.

By: Wayne E

Wayne E — Tue, 05 May 2009 12:33:35 +0000

Agents have a lot more authority than you realize. Like any salesman, they like to have their hands artificially tied by an invisible “guy in the back,” but they are a great advocate for the customer.

It’s commonly known that you should shop around for better premiums every couple of years due to how fast the landscape changes. Because of that, many agents will do a lot to write your policies.

Everything’s negotiable, even insurance.

By: BenG

BenG — Tue, 05 May 2009 03:22:07 +0000

Wayne –

Its not the agent that makes pricing decisions on insurance policies. The quoted premiums are at the mercy of the underwriting department. Good luck convincing them to deviate from their system!

By: Wayne E

Wayne E — Tue, 05 May 2009 03:10:17 +0000

Sorry for being unclear. I was initially asserting that, for me, the FICO score is not important enough to track, per Dave Ramsey.

And in response to your statement that any financial guru who advises his followers to ignore the credit score is almost reckless, I posited that Dave’s intention probably is to make a bold statement that flies in the face of what passes for common knowledge about why someone should maintain their credit score.

Yeah, I’d take a higher score, too. But, Dave wasn’t referring to someone passively observing, “Oh, my credit score is high… Lucky me!” That’s obviously not the target audience when he refers to the practice of worshiping at the altar of FICO. If you’re living a debt-free life, the potential non-lending difference of a low FICO score is just immaterial.

Honestly, if you want lower premiums on your property insurance, you can negotiate a better deal regardless of what your credit score is. Point your agent to your claim history, safety provisions, household income, neighborhood, etc. I think I just read something about haggling recently.

By: Nickel

Nickel — Tue, 05 May 2009 02:31:21 +0000

Wayne: As I alluded to in my initial response, I couldn’t agree with you more that taking “incurring debt for the sake of a number” is stupid. I also agree that “pretending that a good credit score is the secret to becoming wealthy is bad advice.” I have to admit, however, that it’s unclear who you’re arguing against here… I have yet to hear any reputable financial expert to profess these things to be true. Regardless, if given the choice between a high and low credit score, I’d choose the high one.

By: Wayne E

Wayne E — Mon, 04 May 2009 22:50:09 +0000

Dave doesn’t even pretend that FICO score doesn’t matter. He acknowledges that he probably pays a little bit more for insurance every year because insurance companies might rely on the FICO score too much. The greater message, and the message that high-net-worth people apparently agree with, is that borrowing money to raise your credit score is a poor use of your time.

Read The Millionaire Next Door or The Millionaire Mind and see if you can find reference to the financially independent folks surveyed ever caring what their credit score is. The truth is, pretending that a good credit score is the secret to becoming wealthy is bad advice. Most of the credit score optimizers would like to see their FICO increase as if its a measure of their success.

By Dave recommending not caring about your FICO score, he’s jarring awake those who are acting as if all of the debt they are incurring and treading water in for the sake of a number. Instead, he points them to far more efficient uses of their time, like spending less, saving and investing more, and working harder. Those are the choices that seem to make the big difference.

By: Nickel

Nickel — Mon, 04 May 2009 21:44:55 +0000

Wayne: I’ve reviewed Credit Karma in the past, and think that it’s a great service. However, it’s inaccurate to say that they use the same algorithms as the credit reporting agencies. Those algorithms are actually tightly protected trade secrets. Moreover, I just updated my score with Credit Karma and it was off by about 30 points.

As for Ramsey’s stance re: worshiping at the altar of the FICO score, it’s incredibly shortsighted to ignore your credit score, and it borders on reckless for “guru” like Dave to encourage his follower to do so. No, you shouldn’t make stupid choices in the interest of raising your credit score, but you also shouldn’t pretend that it doesn’t matter. Whether you like it or not, your credit score does matter, and for things that go far beyond your ability to borrow.

By: Wayne E

Wayne E — Mon, 04 May 2009 20:55:21 +0000

If you want a truly free, no-strings credit score, get it at CreditKarma.com, which uses the same algorithms that the credit reporting agencies use to generate the FICO number and there isn’t any trial to cancel. They also tell you what you would need to do if you wanted to raise your score.

But, I personally prefer Dave Ramsey’s FICO stance:
http://www.daveramsey.com/etc/.....temId=7933

By: John Moore

John Moore — Mon, 04 May 2009 14:38:15 +0000

FICO 822

However, “beating you” is not the point. Having a high FICO Score is it’s own reward. My new bank in western North Carolina (where I’m moving to retire) agreed to give me a Construction Loan for $750K and, after the house is completed, convert it to 2 permanent loans to keep in their own portfolio. This is very unusual, and is entirely based on my FICO score and a few other details. This way I avoid a Jumbo Loan, get great rates and avoid Private Mortgage Insurance, additional fees, etc. In addition, by building now, I get almost 20% more for my money due to lower material and labor costs. I love it when a 40-year plan works! ; )

By: Baker @ ManVsDebt

Baker @ ManVsDebt — Mon, 04 May 2009 12:44:13 +0000

Great walkthrough! I agree that, although not a “scam,” they certainly are marketing towards people whom have a high chance of forgetting to cancel.

Is that their fault? Of course not. Obviously the consumer maintains the blame. However, they get the reputation they deserve when they go fishing like this.