Has anybody got this email about getting a credit check?

Question

You may be eligible to receive a benefit from a class-action settlement if you purchased and paid for a credit score or credit monitoring from ConsumerInfo.com or an Experian Entity between June 17, 1998 and December 27, 2006. A federal court has directed that this notice be sent to inform you of a proposed class-action settlement. Records show that you entered into an agreement over the Internet with ConsumerInfo.com or an Experian Entity to purchase any Credit Check or Credit Check Monitoring (which were formerly known as CreditCheck® Monitoring Service), Credit Manager (including Yahoo! Credit Manager), Triple Alert, or Triple Advantage credit-monitoring product, or you paid for a credit score sold on a website that also sold one of these credit-monitoring products, between June 17, 1998 and December 27, 2006. If so, you may be eligible to receive a benefit under the proposed settlement.

The website is www.browningsettlement.com I think this may be a scam.

Answer 1

I got this email too and did a search and found this website: http://www.browningsettlement.com/privacy.html

Here is a clipping from the website: "ConsumerInfo.com, Inc. is a licensee of the TRUSTe Privacy Program. TRUSTe is an independent, non-profit organization whose mission is to enable individuals and organizations to establish trusting relationships based on respect for personal identity and information by promoting the use of fair information practices. This privacy notice covers the websites www.ExperianDirect.com, www.ConsumerInfo.com, www.FreeCreditReport.com, and www.qspace.iplace.com (“Site” or “Sites”). Because these Sites want to demonstrate our commitment to our users’ privacy, we have agreed to disclose our information practices and have our privacy practices reviewed for compliance by TRUSTe."

This tells you that browningsettlement.com is ConsumerInfo.com SCAM SCAM SCAM

I hope this helps.

Answer 2

After doing some checking it appears to be on the level. If you search "browning settlement experian" you'll find this result which leads to the Experiangroup.com website:

"With the exception of the Browning case, as to which it has. preliminarily agreed to settlement, Experian intends to defend each of these cases vigorously. ..."

Two consumer credit sites are reporting the settlement. One has the same email posted. If it's a scam, looks like they were taken in as well. Also, the cure may be worse than the disease. It seems you can choose between getting a free score or two months of the same credit monitoring service that caused all the problems in the first place.

Answer 3

Appears to be legit.

I received this same email just moments ago and was a little skeptical. I think that it is the soon-to-be-lawyer in me.

Anyway, I researched the issue (just a little) to see if it is legit. I learned that there is a case involving the credit/consumer issues described in the email in the United States District Court, Northern District of California, captioned Browning v. Yahoo! Inc. Having said that, I only gave a cursory review of some of the pleadings to determine the issues in the case (the case is posted on Westlaw).

In addition, I have not completely reviewed the documents to ensure that they comport with those posted on the "browningsettlement" website. Therefore, as a fellow consumer, I would suggest that anyone considering responding to the email to conduct your own research to ensure that your privacy will be protected and that participation in the class will meet your expectations.

Information is powerful and we should be careful on how it is used - that's what started this mess in the first place!

Answer 4

I got this E-mail too.How can we tell if this is really real or fake?? what will happen to us if we ignore this? Asking for your social security # and D.O.B. Hmm based on this and everything said here in this discussion..... Methinks personally its a scam. I too was a member of FCR.com and went through the same (said) actions. I dont have the time OR the patience to deal with **** like this. Forums ive run into on this subject like this all offer the same point of view on the subject... some think its real while a majority say its a scam . I want to believe the latter but how would we know exactly. and I havent seen it anywhere in the news ( thank you very much anna nicole smith). Wouldn't they also tell us about this as well?

Answer 5

I believe this to be a scam. I just received the same email and I believe I received it because I recently cancelled my freecreditreport.com account, after I found out that they charge $12 a month for absolutely nothing. I had to pull teeth to get a refund, and I'm positive that freecreditreport.com or consumerinfo.com is behind ANOTHER scam. If they can't get 12 dollars, they'll try to get you at 10 dollars a month. As a law student (who made a stupid mistake using them), most class action suits are taken up by law firms that ONLY receive payment for their services UNTIL THEY WIN THE CASE. This is a scam, and I speculate that it is a retaliation for for knowing exactly what they are up too. There was a settlement a couple years ago, involving the federal trade comission-that one was legitimate. My opinion is that this one is absolutely not.

Answer 6

I just got the same email and did a Google search on the website they tell you to visit. I think it is legit, but the consumer will not benefit. Take a look at this link for more info:

GuardMyCreditFile: ConsumerInfo Class Action Settlement – A ...To read the entire settlement proposal, you can visit www.browningsettlement.com. The website contains complete information about how to exclude yourself ...
www.guardmycreditfile.org/index.php/content/view/750/50/ - 35k - Cached - Similar pages

Answer 7

I got this email. It sounds like there would actually have been a lawsuit, because yes, I got the credit report between those dates, and they ended up charging my bank account for something I never signed up for. It was a huge pain the *** to get my $12 back. But the thing with the email is, it says the benefit you would be recieving as part of the lawsuit is.. uh.. another membership that will charge you if you don't opt out. It's bullsh*t. Totally a scam and someone should report. I'm not sure who I would report it to, but I'm going to look it up right now.

Answer 8

Yeah, I got the same email and yes I was suckered in to that Freecreditreport crap they're referring to. I was billed for several months, something around $13.00 per month, for a "Free" credit report. I finally called the dang 1-800 # to get it cancelled and just about had to yell at the guy to get them to cancel it. Oh, and by the way, it was like the 2nd or 3rd day of the month when I did call so I was billed for that month too. I looked around on the internet to see if it was a scam and many answers to the question came back as probably a legit law suit, but the lawyers are probably sending the emails out to get the $$$ backing to pursue the case. One of them probably got suckered too and got pissed.....and now wants to do something about it. Hope that helps a bit.

Answer 9

I just got it as well... the first thing I did was to search, as it looks like it could be a scam. I doubt that I would see any great benefit from a class action lawsuit like this, so I think it's probably better to play it safe and ignore it. The time I would have to put in to finding out if it was legit or not would probably cost me more than the law suit award.

Answer 10

Yeah, I got this email this morning. I think this is a scam. The "registration form" asks for all of your personal information on an unsecured webpage. I have been part of class action settlements in the past and they never ask for your SSN or really anything. They usually send you a disclosure via mail and if the case settles, they send you a check (for practically nothing). I've never had to send in a registration form. I wouldn't do it if I were you.