The Only Official Website is annualcreditreport.com

The Fair Credit Reporting Act requires each of the nationwide consumer reporting companies – Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion – to provide you with a free copy of your credit report, at your request, once every 12 months. The three companies have set up one central website, toll-free telephone number, and mailing address through which you can order your free credit report. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC), the nation’s consumer protection agency, wants you to know that, if you want to order your free annual credit report online, there is only one authorized website:annualcreditreport.com.

Many other websites claim to offer “free credit reports,” “free credit scores,” or “free credit monitoring.” But, be careful. These sites are not part of the official annual free credit report program. And in some cases, the “free” product comes with strings attached. For example, some sites sign you up for a supposedly “free” service that converts to one you have to pay for after a trial period ends. If you don’t cancel during the trial period, you may be agreeing to let the company start charging fees to your credit card.

These sites often look like the official site at annualcreditreport.com. Some use terms like “free report” in their names; others have website names that purposely misspell annualcreditreport.com in the hope that you will mistype the name of the official site. Some of these “imposter” sites direct you to other sites that try to sell you something or collect your personal information.If you want to order your free annual credit report online, carefully type in the name: annualcreditreport.com, or go to the FTC’s website which has a link to it. Once you have filled out certain information at annualcreditreport.com, you will be directed to individual websites operated by the three nationwide consumer reporting companies. You may get offers to buy additional products or services while on the companies’ websites, such as credit scores or credit monitoring products, but you are not required to make a purchase to receive your free annual credit reports.

This does not have a fun commercial, or a snappy jingle, but you get the right information free as you are entitled.