Credit reports and fake Web sites

Anyone can now get a copy of their free credit report from a special Website. When seeking a credit report on the World Wide Web, make sure you type in the name correctly, or you could find yourself an an identity or credit theft victim.

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Millions of people in the United States have made use of the credit report plan, which is easy to use and takes but a few minutes. While consumers can use the telephone or mail to order free credit reports, the most frequent method used by consumers is to access an Internet site set up by the three credit bureaus expressly for that purpose. Not only can a credit record be had without cost, but the legislation entitles every Consumer the chance to get one report each year from each of the three credit bureaus. The Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions (FACT) act, passed last year, provides individuals the opportunity to obtain copies of their credit reports for free. A lot of businesses have obtained domain names that are very close in appearance to the authorized free credit report Website, and many consumers have gone to these Websites by accident. Paying a visit to the wrong Internet site by mistake can lead to sites that ask a fee for the reports, or worse, Web sites that appear to be the actual site but exist only to steal financial or personal information for purposes of identity theft.
 

Many, if not most of these ersatz sites are there to sell reports to individuals who would otherwise receive them for free. Since they make it clear that they are selling the reports, they aren't really committing fraud; they are simply taking advantage of an opportunity created by people who make a typo. Recently, there were more than 200 Web sites registered with addresses that were nearly identical to the real site, annualcreditreport.com. Sites with names such as annualcreditreportonline.com are common, as they are the sort of thing that a person might type by mistake. A couple of scam Web sites ask for the Social Security number of the person and then don't provide a copy of the requested report. A few sites have been created to closely resemble the proper Website, and are intended to fool the person into believing that they are at the real site. Web sites that are designed to obtain Social Security numbers exist so that the opportunists who built them them can use the numbers to practice identity theft and credit theft, all at the expense of the unsuspecting Internet site visitor.

If you are uncomfortable making use of the Internet, it might be a smart idea to acquire a copy of the document via mail or phone. Failure to use care when going on the Web may result in a rather expensive crime lesson. The U.S. government and concerned Internet Service Providers are shutting down such Web sites as quickly as they can, but these sites are frequently established outside the U.S., which makes enforcement troublesome. Individuals who do not often use the World Wide Web or who are not all that familiar with how domain names and URLs work should seek assistance from a knowledgeable relative or friend before typing in the URL of the Website.