Predatory Economy: “Free” Credit Reports
At risk of making you mad at me because you get the jingle stuck in your head, you know those Free Credit Report ads?
Obviously they’re not buying all that advertising time to give you something that doesn’t benefit them at all. And of course, it turns out it’s not really free. Shocker, I know.
Basically, you go get your “free” credit report and they sign you up for an ongoing, not-free service. And then they make a lot of money—their business is even growing despite the lousy economy causing so much trouble for other businesses.
Even better, you can get a truly free credit report by going to AnnualCreditReport.com. The government requires it. So the “Free” Credit Report people are making money by bragging about something they’re giving you for free even though they’re then charging you a monthly fee for something you don’t necessarily want and the government requires them to give you the original thing you wanted for free, anyway.
Tags: credit reports, predatory economy
