As a Credit Industry Professional for the last 16 years, I have preached to people to stop using the Free Credit Score and Free Credit Report websites. I say this to protect consumers from getting inaccurate and incomplete information from these sites and protect their rights to their personal information and data which they give up when using these “free” sites.
Let’s start with the credit reporting agencies, Trans Union, Experian and Equifax. They are very large “for profit” data collection corporations. They are not consumer advocates! The Federal Government had to step in a create Consumer Protection Laws to stop them from taking advantage of consumers. So, anything that comes from directly from a credit reporting agency or is affiliated with a credit reporting agency needs to be scrutinized. In other words, don’t trust the information they are providing you because 80% of the time it’s not correct!
These credit reporting agencies have now created websites and apps and lure consumers to them by promoting “Get your free credit score” or “Boost your credit score”. Unfortunately, most consumers do use them without understanding what these sites are truly designed for. These websites and apps are nothing more than Data Collection Landing Pages where consumers willingly give their personal information away which is then used for profit. So, after you’ve given them all your most personal information and click “I agree”, they sell that information to whoever wants it.
Now if that doesn’t scare you away from using these sites or apps, let’s look at the information or services they claim to be providing. The most popular website and app promises your Free Credit Score but, they don’t tell you it’s a score they made up and not your actual credit score that most creditors use. They also don’t provide you with your complete credit information so you may not actually realize you have accounts on your real credit report that are helping or hurting you and your credit scores. Finally, they claim they can help you “Boost” your score or “Dispute” items on your report. Remember these companies are not consumer advocates and make their money by reporting the negative information from other companies. You’re not going to get great results or see a significant score increase.
What prompted me to write this article today was a client sent me a screenshot of a new collection account that popped up on his credit karma app. He said he never has an account with the original creditor that this collection company was trying to collect for. What I noticed on that screenshot confirmed that it is not in a consumer’s best interest to use these types of websites and apps. Below the collection account it gave, what they called, “options to help your score”. These options included the following:
If the account was Removed they would see a 23 Point Increase
If the account was Paid in Full they would see a 25 Point Increase
If the account was Settled for Less they would see a 21 Point Increase
Let me speak to you from experience, as a professional in the credit industry. There is NO WAY possible that paying a collection account is going to raise your credit score more than removing that collection account completely from your credit report. This is propaganda to get the consumer to pay the collection rather than dispute it for removal. They’re also encouraging settling the account which they say can help almost as much as getting it removed. THIS IS NOT TRUE! These companies work together to profit off you, STOP USING THESE WEBSITES AND APPS.
Stay away from anything that is directly associated with TransUnion, Experian and Equifax when looking for your credit reports or credit scores. When you agree to use their websites and their apps to view your credit you ignore terms, they bury which force you to give up your rights as a consumer make these credit reporting agencies comply with the law. Agreeing to their “terms of use” allow them to not comply with the Fair Credit Reporting Act which is the Federal Law that protects your rights as a consumer and enforces that everything on your credit report is 100% Accurate, Complete, and Verifiable.
If you are interested in getting your correct and complete credit information and scores without giving up your rights or having your personal information or data sold for profit, Please contact me personally or contact our company to get a FREE Credit Analysis and information to maximize your credit scores. www.EditMyCredit.net