FreeCreditScore.com
FreeCreditReport.com is a website owned by the Experian credit clearinghouse. The site offers users a chance to check their personal credit reports from all three major credit bureaus, on the condition that they sign up for a 30 day trial of Experian's Triple Advantage credit monitoring program. The credit reports also come with the user's PLUS credit score.
Freecreditreport.com is different from annualcreditreport.com, a site run by the United States government in conjunction with Experian, Trans Union, and Equifax, in that the government website does not give a FICO score, however it does not force users to enroll in a program. Freecreditreport.com allegedly tried to associate itself with the U.S. government site.[1]
Advertising
FreeCreditReport.com is the primary sponsor of the number 38 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Ford Fusion, driven by David Gilliland and owned by Yates Racing.
The company's current advertising campaign features an unlucky guy (played by French-Canadian actor Eric Violette) and his friends performing songs about how he should have gone to freecreditreport.com. A different set of commercials feature people explaining what a credit score is and does.
Controversy
Freecreditreport.com has been the subject of two major lawsuits. In 2005, they were sued by the Federal Trade Commission for deceptive marketing tactics. They settled for $950,000 and agreed not to use deceptive and misleading claims about free offers and to offer full disclosure of terms and conditions of any free offers.[2] The were further subjected to a 2006 inquiry by the Florida Attorney General for violating Florida's Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act.[3] An MSNBC.com investigation of the website called it "misleading", "deceptive" and a "scam".[4]
References
- ^ Block, Sandra (2005-08-22). "Beware impostor offers of free credit report". USA Today. Retrieved 2008-03-27.
- ^ "Marketer of "Free Credit Reports" Settles FTC Charges". Consumer Affairs. 2005-08-16. Retrieved 2008-03-27.
- ^ Sullivan, Bob (2006-11-15). "Florida AG investigates FreeCreditReport.com". MSNBC. Retrieved 2008-03-27.
- ^ Sullivan, Bob (2006-09-12). "Don't fall for FreeCreditReport.com". MSNBC. Retrieved 2008-03-27.
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