The Experian Scam at FreeCreditReport.com
August 8, 2008 – 1:40 pmMany of you have probably heard the catchy and comical jingles about the pains of bad credit aired over 90,000 times by FreeCreditReport.com. The media recently revealed that the beloved good looking singer with the endearing folksy voice is actually a Canadian actor lip syncing to cover his thick French accent. The identity of their spokesman is not all that has been brought to light. If you pay close enough attention, you might be able to decipher the disclaimer at the end of each commercial. The cryptic message that the rest of the commercial distracts from hints at the fact that FREECreditReport.com is not actually free at all. In fact, this “free” credit report costs unsuspecting customers $79 per year.
Experian, the company behind FreeCreditReport.com, was reprimanded a year ago by the Federal Trade Commission for deliberately misleading consumers. They made it very unclear on their website that their FREE credit reports had any cost at all. When the FTC exposed this, they were forced to change their site to provide this information to the consumers signing up for their service… if they read the fine print. Customers arriving at the FreeCreditReport website are now greeted by a large bright button to get their free credit report immediately (and to get their attention away from the details of the offer). This link navigates them quickly away from the dense fine print that tells them what they are actually getting into. After clicking this link, the customer has no other mention of any charges whatsoever. Upon entering their personal information, customers are immediately enrolled in the monthly payment program. If they do not cancel their membership within 7 days, they are billed $14.95 each month until the consumer notices the charges and cancels the program. Because most consumers don’t have time to read through dense technical language, they can easily be roped into monthly charges that they are completely unaware of. An unsuspecting customer could theoretically be charged for years of payments without realizing they have been scammed.
There are much better alternatives to obtain a truly free credit report. An act passed by Congress requires the major credit agencies to provide consumers with annual credit reports for free upon request. LifeLock identity theft protection also provides credit reporting along with its identity theft protection services. With Life Lock, you can get the full benefits of the best identity theft protection services along with the same credit reporting offered by Experian. A membership at Lifelock.com also costs $5 per month less than FreeCreditReport.com.
So how has Experian managed to thrive in spite of the fact that it charges people large amounts of money for a free service? Experian preys on the ignorance of the public. The good looking Canadian lip syncing to catchy tunes manages to draw enough attention away from the facts that their customers will pay a great deal of money for something they could get elsewhere for free. Their massive marketing campaign has managed to convince their customers that when you go to FreeCreditReport.com, you will actually get a Free Credit Report.
Tags: Experian Scam, Life Lock, LifeLock, lifelock.com
