Why does it seem like everything is a scam these days? Freecreditreport.com

I don't know if anyone else has dealt with this criminal company, but I got suckered in because I thought that by law credit reports are supposed to be free.

Well, Freecreditreport.com or "CIC Triple Advantage" as the unauthorized charges are labeled, is A) Not free, B) Criminal and C) Impossible to cancel (even though I never signed up in the first place).

They STOLE my credit card number (which I never provided), and charged my account $12.95 (which is a monthly charge). After Googling the company I've learned that they've had several successful class action suits against them and tens of thousands of complaints, yet they still remain in business and are rated a "B" on the BBB.org website. Why?

http://www.labbb.org/BBBWeb/Forms/Business/CompanyReportExtensionPage.aspx?CompanyID=13062929#&sm=

I called my bank immediately after discovering the charges and today had the joyous experience yelling at their entire phone bank staff at freecreditreport.com (I talked to about 6 different people and 2 supervisors) I was hung up on every time. They kept demanding my SS# and CC# and I obviously refused, as it stands I have one email stating that my "account" is canceled, but the charges on my card (that they stole) still remain.

This is America now folks, land of the dishonest and home of the scam. There's no way this company should be able to operate legally, yet they have been for years, even after settling several class action suits. Beware any credit report company with the following names..

ConsumerInfo.com
creditmatters.com
FreeCreditReport.com
homeradar.com
QSpace.com
www.consumerinfo.com
ConsumerInfo.Com
CIC Triple Advantage
Consumer Information Center
CIC Triple Advantage
Experian Consumer Direct
Credit Report Monitoring Service
Iplace, Inc.
CIC Credit Monitor SVC
Consumer Info
Consumer Information

They are all the same company, and they're all scams. They legally (apparently) steal your credit card number and your money. I'm so fuming mad right now, because I've reached a dead end and if my bank decides to not reverse the charges CIC will get away with stealing my money. I would call the BBB, but they seem to be a scam too. There's no way this company should have a "B" rating with the volume of complains against them. No way.

if there are still charges next month is "losing" your card. Just call it in and report it stolen. That number will be canceled and you will get a new card in a few days.

It'll be a little difficult for a while if you have automatic bill paying, but it will get the monkey off your back.

Thanks for the heads up.

What exactly did you fill in on their site?

They got my CC number because they have access to my credit report. I never gave them a number, an expiration date or a 4 digit verification number.

The account number reflected on your credit report doesn't match the actual card/account number...

I misplaced one of my credit cards that I never used after graduating, and I got a credit report hoping to get the account number so that I could call and cancel. No dice. Luckily, I could cancel it another way.

I don't know a thing about the credit industry, short of the fact that they suck.

:shrug:

Maybe you don't remember doing it, but it is *impossible* to get the free credit report at that site without your credit card info. I have been looking, and I still can't find a single case of anyone else scammed by this company that didn't enter their CC info. Even as far back as 2003, no one has stated that they had their credit card charged with just a partial SSN provided. The only possible (though unlikely) explanation, is that you had an account with experian.com and at some point provided them with your CC#, and they provided your CC info to their subsidiary (which isn't the same as stealing, as the TOC applies regardless of how you got to the site). I say its unlikely, because I wouldn't be very comfortable knowing that anyone could access my credit report with just an email address, and 4 digits of my SSN.

I asked before, are you saying that you never signed up, never made an account with freecreditreport.com, and you never recieved a credit report? Based on the TOC, it was probably a month ago that you went to the site. Maybe you forgot, or are embarrased to admit?

I already mentioned that I didn't enter the number. I'm not lying.

Give it a rest.

Did you have an account with Experian.com?

Did you recieve a credit report?

I got caught up in this because my bank sold information. My credit card was through the bank.
There was a class action suit brought against the bank and I was awarded $8.
I have a post below but I wanted to make sure you understood how underhanded things really are.

Our personal information is for sale - all of it. People will make lots of money until they are caught. Then they start all over again. Big-time banks are certainly not above partaking of all that $$$.

As a customer service phone drone myself, I can tell you you were hung up on because A.) You refused to provide any information they needed to locate your account and B.) You were yelling at people who were only guilty of taking the job they could get to pay their bills.

That does NOT mean I'm absolving FCR of whatever they've done. I logged onto that site once and as soon as I saw what all they wanted to provide this "free" report I closed my browser window.

annualcreditreport.com

I used them recently having had fraudulent charges appear on my credit card (2nd time in 6 mos.!). Luckily, the bank I deal with came up with an offer - $4.95 a month to constantly monitor your credit and if they find anything suspicious, they act upon it, thus I don't have to make any more calls.

Having to do this credit report thing 4X in the past 6 mos. and pay for it via Equifax was $40.00 right there so I figured the $4.95 a month is a good deal to avoid the hassles and worries.

Never had a problem with the above site but then again, I did not ask to see/pay for my FICO score either.

:kick:

I hope you dont either!?

They said they needed that info to access my account, which was a bald faced lie. They pulled up my account just fine (after 6 tries) with just my name and email address. I yelled at them because I caught them lying to me.

They hung up on me because I was persistent about hard copy verification of promises.

With all due respect you can shove your post, you sound like the problem. You're certainly not the solution.

They were asking for that info for "account verficiation," meaning they need you to repeat that information back to them, information only you should know, to ensure interlopers aren't calling in to get your sensitive information. Do you want any dickhead on your e-mail list to be able to call in and give your name and e-mail address and get your credit information? Sounds like it.

Interestingly I just went to their site and there's no way to use their service without giving your SSN and credit card number. So you gave it to them and don't remember it. Look at the site yourself. That's all there is to it.

Anything else I can help you with? No? Thanks for calling (CLICK)!

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

You should revisit that site though and review the credit card and SSN fields that you have to fill in to get their service. You might recognize them from when you filled them in.

reasonable behavior onto a criminal enterprise.
I had to deal with these people and was hung up on too. Usually they would say they had to check something and put me on hold - forever!

These are crooked businesses, do you really think they abide by the rules that govern legitimate businesses?

For what it's worth, I use annualcreditreport.com when requesting my free annual credit reports from the three major reporting agencies. I've never had any problems, and they don't ask for credit card info unless you want to order report add-ons, which I never have.

Good luck and thanks for the warning.

Extra only if you want the FICO score.

The big 3 reporting agencies were required by law to provide
free credit reports. The result was annualcreditreport.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Annualcreditreport.com

I only order the things I want. Nothing more

If you encounter something online that claims to be free, but they require a credit card number, odds are that it isn't really free. Make sure you actually read the TOS before you sign your money away.

They stole it.

After the first page, there is a page requiring both SSN and credit card info. The credit card info has a little asterik next to it, which means that you couldn't submit it without including it. So, are you saying that they gained access to your credit report using just your name, email address, and address?

Most of the complaints I've come across are from people who did enter their credit card number.

I entered from Expiran's site and gave no CC info and only verified the last 4 digits of my SS#.

Got the same form.

:shrug:

They traffic in data regarding the private business relationship between individuals and a bank or merchant, and then they CHARGE the consumer for the 'privilege' of verifying and validating the database. It's obscene, imho.

Congress passed a law to make our credit reports available for free. And of course, the only way to implement anything anymore is through private enterprise. The reports are free, I think they charged you for a "credit watch", to monitor whether your identity has been stolen and send you other alert emails. I've noticed that online companies are starting to make you cancel services, instead of getting you to buy into something later.

Then you can file a complaint with the States Attorney or Attorney General... Get a copy of the complaint and mail to your bank... See if that will help you get your money back...

Consumer Affairs, the State AG and the BBB. Since at least 2003, nothing has changed. They continue to steal CC#'s and rob bank accounts.

My bank is still investigating.

Merchants hate chargebacks, especially online ones. If the merchant exceeds the ceiling on chargebacks for the month, they must pay a fee and it's a whopper.

This explains it! :yoiks:

Always start from that premise.
They always want something, even if it just a
name that can be sold to advertisers.
Look for the hook.
They can't not be making money if they
spend a ton of money to advertise their "free" service.
How to they make money giving you something for "free"?
This is where the logic alarm bells should go off.

even if you don't provide it. Apparently that's legal now.

I never have and never will give my CC info out online. That used to give me some level of comfort, not any more.

Capitalism has become "predatory".
Just like a hungry Tiger who will do
anything to kill and eat you, todays
scam artists will lie, cheat and twist/torture/break laws
to separate you from your money, credit and identity.
Kinda like Republicans.....

You can a free credit report, once a year. It's the law.

What a mess. Thankfully, I work at a vehicle dealership, so if I'm really hard pressed to learn my credit score, I can get them to run it.

I used some online place to pull it a few months ago. I can't remember what site, but the report was all Xed on the CC numbers, except the last 4 digits..as well as the SSN.

They pulled the report for free, but you had to pay to get the actual credit score. So there was this link to click on where you then gave your info of the CC number. I just wanted the report so I didn't pay anything.


edited to add: It was http://www.annualcreditreport.com that I used. Completely free. :)

How did you get suckered in if you didn't sign up? Did CIC just start charging your CC out of the blue? Did you give them some sort of info on line?

my name, email and last 4 digits of my #SS. Yes, they started charging my debit card out of the blue.

That's strange.

What it means however is that they already have my SS# associated with my name/address. Scary stuff indeed.

I know here we require a full SSN. But then you gotta fill out a whole sheet before anyone pulls it here as well.

Hey, if you didn't bookmark it, as other said on this thread, use www.annualcreditreport in the future. Nothing hinky with them.

Good luck.

It's even at the root of the problems in Government, it has so permeated our society.

:mad:


on edit: Are they owned by AOL? Sounds like their business practices.

and yes, these many years later... I'm still bitter.

Between when you "didn't sign up" and when your credit card was charged? I'm reading the TOS, and it seems that you have to call to cancel in order to avoid being charged for "credit monitoring service"

"When you order your free report here, you will begin your free trial membership in Triple AdvantageSM Credit Monitoring. If you don’t cancel your membership within the 30-day trial period, you will be billed $12.95 for each month that you continue your membership. If you are not satisfied, you can cancel at any time to discontinue the membership and stop the monthly billing; however, you will not be eligible for a pro-rated refund of your current month’s paid membership fee."

So, I wouldn't wait around to get a refund.

But, I didn't give my CC info, so I assumed I was safe.

That's been there since *at least* November, 2006. How long ago did you first go to the site?

Please leave the thread if you have nothing constructive to add. Thank you.

I'm trying to be helpful; you're giving very little information. I can't find a single example of a case where you can gain access to your credit report with just the last four digits of your SSN. I can't even do that through my credit card company, or annualcreditreport.com I totally believe that you've been scammed, and that the company is giving you the run around, however, the "they stole my CC#" is a very serious charge, and will be extremely easy for them to disprove, if you did, in fact, give them the info.

Just like hundreds of other people..
http://www.complaintsboard.com/?search=CIC

And haven't seen anyone claim yet that they didn't supply CC#, or that they just entered 4 digits of SSN. Can you point me to a specific example? There's lots of talk about "unauthorized charges," but this isn't the same as stealing credit card numbers. Most entered their credit card info without reading the fine print; thats not "unauthorized," thats just stupid, and that's how these companies get rich.

IMPORTANT INFORMATION:

When you order your free report here, you will begin your free trial membership in Triple AdvantageSM Credit Monitoring. If you don't cancel your membership within the 30-day trial period, you will be billed $12.95 for each month that you continue your membership.

ConsumerInfo.com and Freecreditreport.com are not affiliated with the annual free credit report program. Under a new Federal law, you have the right to receive a free copy of your credit report once every 12 months from each of the three nationwide consumer reporting companies. To request your free annual report under that law, you must go to www.annualcreditreport.com.

so other criminals feel free to operate openly. I was able to get a credit report through my bank credit card and it was free.

stealing thing. I've never heard of such a thing happening if you didn't supply it and would almost be certain you had to have at some point in time. Otherwise, what they did would be theft and credit card fraud, of which you should file a police report.

Are you sure you never ever provided them your credit card number, and they through god knows how were able to get their hands on it?

from say Amazon, or Tire Rack. Search Google, the exact same thing has happened to thousands of other FCR "customers".

Education solves this problem.

a reputable credit reporting agency. One of the big three. Nothing at the time mentioned CIC Credit, the subsidiary that stole my money.

My bank was selling info - I had accounts and credit card through the bank.
All of a sudden my credit card was billed for this bogus comapny.
My bank was sued for selling the info and I got in on the settlement - $8 !!!

(The way this was discovered is a WWII veteran who worked as a code breaker worked out the black bars that are on the correspondence. He realized it had a lot of info and launched the lawsuit)

Talking to those credit report people is like being connected to a bar with a bunch of tanked up liars. Incredible!

You have my sympathy - I know what it's like.

society. The largest businesses and political organizations exist entirely to steal. Calling it practicality or maximizing profits, or any of the hundreds of other euphemisms invented over the last few generations, is simply the logical conclusion of our television driven, double-speak, culture.

There is nothing more profitable than outright theft, and profit is the purpose.

when this company first came out.
It said free...but then when you go there they try to sell you a service.
At that time, the service was for $9.99 a year they would send you an email alert anytime anyone inquired about your credit.
Seemed reasonable so I gave them my debit account number. That was around the time that I hurt my back at work and times were tight.
Anyway, I started having checks bounce all over the place. Small checks, but each of them was carrying a $25 bank charge and a $25 merchant fee. There was no way I was overdrawn...close yes, overdrawn no.
Anyway, I went to the bank and apparently this place had charged my checking account $99.99.:wtf:
They refunded the money, but not after it cost me several hundred dollars in bank and merchant fees that they refused to pay for the overcharge.
Never again. When I shop online I use one of those rechargeable debit cards that you get at CVS. I add the money I need. It costs me a little extra, but never again will this mistake happen.

I won't name the company because it is advertized on Nova M and others liberal radio .

The catch is the shipping . It was for a success kit for ebay , free CD except the shipping . By the time you enter all you info , name address and so on you are only allowed to pay the small shipping charge with a credit card - this is where you stop and forget it . I got the CD but then later I was charged $40 for a membership which was not an option I signed up for or agreed to , this would have been three $40 payments .

I called my bank and since I was a customer since 1981 they credited my account and charged back the rip off company .

This is the hidden catch in all of these adds , key words is you only pay the shipping , if they allowed you to pay by check or cash then you are ok but they don;t . It's a scam and there are millions out there .

I avoid all work at home online jobs because they are all scams and all just a way for them to generate funds .

Listen to all of these adds , they all say you only pay a small shipping cost , perhaps somewhere well hidden in the endless fine print there is the catch mentioned but i did not see it .

For the fun of it, I gogled the names of some of the more obnoxious infomercials and found many of them were running that scam.
People get in on what they think is just shipping or they take advantage of the 30 day return policy. They end up with credit card charges they cannot get rid of.
I wonder how the stations get away with running these things. They are not innocent parties as they are collecting advertising dollars from scam artists!

Even with the best intentions of a liberal radio show they need adds to pay the bills , just as anyone who has to work for a company who sells a product they are really against . I suppose we all sell out to some extent , just like the people who shop at wal-mart who used to work at a small hardware store .