The Federal Trade Commission has issued warnings to 18 websites offering “free” credit reports and pokes a little fun at some of these providers popular advertising.
The FTC’s press release, announcing the warnings, states its expectations that each of these advised websites more clearly disclose the consumer’s right to a free annual credit report under federal law.
According to FTC these warnings are in response to the recent amendments to FTC’s Free Credit Reports Rule, effective April 2, 2010. Changes to the rule include requiring that credit report providers clearly distinguish between “free” credit reports federally mandated free annual credit reports available to consumers at AnnualCreditReport.com or 877-322-8228 and those commonly offered by these websites, which that require the purchase of additional services, such as credit monitoring.
The FTC’s warnings specifically mandate that a disclosure and links to AnnualCreditReport.com and FTC.gov be displayed across the top of each page mentioning free credit reports, throughout the websites. Violations are subject to penalties of up to $3,500 per violation.
The FTC discloses on their website the following as recipients of these warning letters:
National Credit Report.com LLC
Quinstreet, Inc.
MyCreditCenter.com, Inc.
Vertue, Inc.
- My3BureauCreditReport.com
- FreeScore.com
- Free3BureauCreditReport.com
- FreeTripleCreditScore.com
- FreeOnlineReportNow.com
ConsumerTrack, Inc.
ConsumerDirect, Inc.
Mighty Net, Inc.
Amie Nguyen
Amanda Raab
The FTC encourages consumers to learn more about their right to a free annual credit report at http://www.ftc.gov/freereports.
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