My friend has been getting calls from a car insurance company saying her ins. is about to expire. She don't have a car or insurance! She's started getting letters from credit card companies for cards, when she's always been rejected before. She's never had a credit card and doesn't qualify for one. She's on disability and can't work. Nothing has changed in years. Think her identy has been stolen? What steps should she take to check things out?
2007-12-14 04:19:26 · 16 answers · asked by FunnieBunnie 4 in Business & Finance ➔ Credit
Go to annualcreditreport.com - that's the government site for free reports. She can actually print out all three tonight if she wants. She can only get one free per year from each agency. Freecreditreport.com makes you pay for a monthly service if you want the free reports (go figure).
Fraud FAQ's.
http://www.experian.com/consumer/fraud_faqs.html
She should also be able to get free credit reports from all three credit reporting agencies if fraud is expected, but she needs to contact them all if fraud is expected to place a fraud alert. This will prevent anyone from signing up for credit in her name.
www.experian.com
www.transunion.com
www.equifax.com
Good luck.
2007-12-14 04:24:17 · answer #1 · answered by major pain 2 · 2⤊ 3⤋
No, no, no! Its NOT Freecreditreport.com. Don't use that site! It belongs to Experian, and consumers are commonly tricked into signing up for a credit monitoring service for $12 a month which is totally unnecessary, and NOT required to get your free credit report. But they make it seem like you are getting a 'free' service, and don't explain it well. You would have to visit that site to see what I mean. And if you go to that site, the fact that you are signing up for the $12 a month service is NOT clearly indicated. You have to look very close for the details on it. You actually have to look pretty hard to find the link for the actual, no strings attached free credit report. It is there, but you really have to search pretty hard to find it. Its rather sleazy if you ask me, and a LOT of people are tricked into unknowingly buying this service. Its 'free' for the first 30 days, and then your credit card is charged every month after that. Just do a google search of something like "freecreditreport.com rip off" and tons of pages come up!
You are entitled to one free credit report each year. And the ONLY place to do that officially is www.annualcreditreport.com. This site has been setup by the three major credit reporting companies - Equifax, Experian, and Transunion. It is the ONE, AND ONLY site which is authorized by all three of the companies to deliver free annual credit reports to consumers. You can get all three reports totally free using this one site - no strings attached!Follow this link to the FTC's web site regarding this issue, and for more information:
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/conline/pubs/credit/freereports.shtm
Hope this helps.
BTW, in my opinion, her identity was not stolen. I say that because if she cannot get credit cards because she was always turned down, then what good is her identity to thieves? If she had a good, solid credit history, then it would be a different story. But I really doubt that it was stolen. Just my opinion...
2007-12-14 13:29:34 · answer #2 · answered by Rach ♥ 6 · 1⤊ 1⤋
" In the United States, a person is entitled to a free credit report once every 12 months, this administered by the three nationwide consumer free credit report companies:
Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. The three companies will provide this free credit report jointly,the subject is walked through the process of getting their Free credit report when applying, which is via the internet. The subject is asked to imput their social security number, free credit report is then made available to be printed out."
Go to: http://www.insightempire.com/freecreditreport/ you'll be able to find further information pertaining free credit checks.
hope that helps
2007-12-15 08:51:09 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
She needs to contact the credit bureaus there are 3 of them....then she needs to let them know her identity has been stolen. Once she does that they will send her, her credit report. She can look through it and decide what actually belongs to her and what does not. She can dispute any charges that appear on her credit report that are not hers!!! It might take a while......
She also needs to talk to the car insurance company. Don't bother with the customer service people...they are there only to take care of the mass majority of people.... not people with special cases like your friend. Tell her ask for the supervior's supervisor.......or someone who can actually help her an not pass her off. I always use the line "your not telling me what I want to hear, so pass me to the next person who can help me" That always gets their attention. Hopefully they will take care it properly.
2007-12-14 12:30:06 · answer #4 · answered by tjnw79 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
did you know that by law you are able to get a free credit report once a year to see where you stand...you dont have to apply for credit cards to get a copy of your report..i wasnt aware of this until a few years ago. this site is free to use and is very helpful in understanding whats on your report and then you can contact the creditors and settle with them...good luck.
2007-12-14 14:13:24 · answer #5 · answered by datchik 4 · 2⤊ 1⤋
You don't have to have a credit card or even any debts to have a credit file. If you subscribe to a magazine that publisher may report you as a good payer to a credit reporting agency and a credit file is then created in your name. That's why credit card companies sometimes solicit cats and dogs when their owners subscribe to magazines in their pet's name as a joke.
However the insurance issue is very suspicious. She should get a copy of her credit file to see exactly what is on it.
2007-12-14 12:26:06 · answer #6 · answered by michinoku2001 7 · 1⤊ 3⤋
freecreditreport.com is not FREE.
You need to go to http://www.annualcreditreport.com and are allowed one free per year from each of the big 3(TransUnion, Experian, Equifax). This is the offical government required site and the only one that she can get the free one from.
Since she has no history they may require her to have it sent by mail rather than viewing it on-line. However, the site will let her know if it can or can't be done on line.
2007-12-14 12:24:32 · answer #7 · answered by OC1999 7 · 5⤊ 1⤋
Don't go to freecreditreport.com like that other person said, they charge you, it is not free. However, she can go to annualcreditreport.com and get a free copy of her credit report from all three credit bureaus. She definitely needs to look into this to see whats going on. Could be a mistake or it could be identity theft.
2007-12-14 12:23:27 · answer #8 · answered by *Cara* 7 · 2⤊ 1⤋
freecreditreport.com
Everyone has credit, even if they haven't had an account.
Below post state that you will be charged at freecreditreport.
You will be charged, but only if you don't cancel within the first 15 days or so. You are automatically enrolled in "triple advantage" to get the "free" report, you just need to cancel triple advantage right after you get the report.
It is free, as long as you aren't a moron about it.
**It seems that people still have a hard time with this. Go to freecreditreport, and CANCEL your enrollment in triple advantage within the first MONTH. It is free if you do this. Geez**
2007-12-14 12:22:27 · answer #9 · answered by Andy U 3 · 0⤊ 4⤋
These are scams...if she does not have the things they are calling about then she just needs to hang up on these people. Tell her NEVER to give out her personal information. They are trying to commit identity theft!
2007-12-14 12:22:51 · answer #10 · answered by Mom to Matt & Makayla 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋