You have the right to receive a free annual credit report so don't get scammed into paying for it or subscribing to a service to access it. Under a new amendment to the Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act, Equifax, Experian, and Transunion, our national consumer reporting agencies, are required by law to provide each and every citizen of the United States of America a free annual credit report. You are required to provide each agency your date of birth, social security number, name, and address before you can obtain the free credit report. The credit agencies have some very misleading advertisements which can easily get you signed up for a paid service if you are not careful. There are many of these types of advertisements out there so don't let them get you signed up for something you don't want just to get your free credit report. Your free annual credit report is only accessible from one website online that is legitimate.

The address to that website is annualcreditreport.com. If you are not careful and misspell the websites address you could easily be misdirected to a website that offers free credit reports only to get you to buy some other product. As an alternative to ordering online the three nationwide consumer reporting agencies have set up one central toll-free telephone number, and mailing address through which you can order your free annual credit report. To order your free credit report call 877-322-8228, or complete the Free Annual Credit Report Request Form and mail it to: Annual Credit Report Request Service, P.

O. Box 105281, Atlanta, GA 30348-5281. Remember not to contact any of the three reporting agencies directly to get your free credit report. They will not provide you with the free annual credit report. For security reasons each nationwide consumer reporting agency will ask you for information that only you would know. A question they might ask might be the amount of your car payment or some other question pertaining to information in your file.

Since the information in your file which each agency collects comes from different sources each may ask you a different question. You may be offered additional products or services while on the authorized free credit report website but you are not required to make a purchase to receive your free annual credit report. If you want to see your free credit report right away than you need to order your free annual credit report through the website.

Be sure to answer each one of the security questions accurately or you will be denied immediate access to ensure the security of your file. If that were to happen than the reporting agency will mail your free annual credit report. Your free credit report will be mailed within fifteen days of the agencies receiving your request whether or not it was by phone or mail. There are several other ways to obtain a free credit report even if you have already received your free credit reports for this twelve month period. If you are the victim of identify theft and place a fraud alert in your file you are eligible for a free credit report.

Federal law also states that if you are the the victim of identify theft and place a fraud alert in your file, if you are on public assistance, or if you are unemployed but expect to apply for employment within 60 days, you are entitled to a free credit report. Last but not least if you have been denied credit and request a report within 60 days of receiving notice. If you can't get a free credit report than you can always purchase your reports from the reporting agencies directly. There contact information is as follows: * Equifax: 800-685-1111; http://www.equifax.

com * Experian: 888-EXPERIAN (888-397-3742); http://www.experian.com * TransUnion: 800-916-8800; http://www.transunion.

com You will be charged a nominal fee of around ten dollars.

Don't get scammed by credit repair companies or purchase impractible credit repair guides, Get a free copy of the highly recommended Credit Secrets Mini Book and more information on free credit report or free Annual credit report