Reader Question: How much do credit report monitoring services cost?

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June 4th, 2008 - Posted by Joe

Q: I see that most of the credit reporting monitoring services on your website offer a free trial. How much do they cost after the free trial is over?

A: While free trial periods are great to evaluate whether or not a particular credit report monitoring service is a fit for your life, it is important to realize that once the trial period is over you will have to live with the monthly fee.

Below is a list of the free trial periods and monthly fees of the top five credit report monitoring services we have reviewed. We have also included information on what credit report and score data you receive when you sign up. This is important because in almost all cases you get to keep the initial credit report and score information your receive during your free trial.

Equifax offers a 30 day free trial and costs $14.95 per month thereafter. Upon sign up you will receive a free FICO score and free 3-bureau credit report which are yours to keep even if you decide to cancel during the free trial period.

CreditCheck Total offers a 7 day free trial and costs $14.95 per month thereafter. Upon sign up you will receive free reports and scores from all three credit bureaus which are yours to keep even if you decide to cancel during the free trial period.

Identity Guard does not offer a free trial, but will give you your second month for free. The ongoing monthly fee is $11.99. Upon sign up you will receive free reports and scores from all three credit bureaus.

FreeCreditReport.com offers a 7 day free trial and costs $12 per month thereafter. Upon sign up you will receive a free Experian credit report and score which are yours to keep even if you decide to cancel during the free trial period.

Privacy Matters 123 offers a 7 day free trial and costs $19.95 per month thereafter. Upon sign up you will receive free reports and scores from all three credit bureaus which are yours to keep even if you decide to cancel during the free trial period.

To learn more about credit report monitoring services visit our credit report monitoring service reviews and comparison.

Type carefully when looking for a free credit report

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December 19th, 2007 - Posted by Joe

A recent study by USA Today and online security company Symantec found hundreds of websites that took advantage of typos to direct consumers away from their intended destination when searching for a credit report.

These sites have domain names very similar to those of the credit bureaus. For example, freecreditrepotrt.com may accidentally be reached by consumers that are attempting to visit Experian's FreeCreditReport.com. While most of these sites likely pose little threat to consumers, it is still important to be fully aware who is operating the website you are visiting before you engage in any business dealings.

One simple way to ensure that you are on the website you intend to be is to check the privacy policy and/or contact us links which are typically at the bottom of the web page. If these items aren't present or seem suspicious, it is a good idea to move along.

We here at NextAdvisor deal directly with all the major credit report monitoring services and make sure that all links on our site are valid and directing to reputable service providers. You can click on any of the links below to visit the official websites of each of the credit report monitoring services that we have reviewed:

• Identity Guard
• Equifax
• ProtectMyId by Experian
• MyFICO
• FreeCreditReport.com
• TrueCredit 3 Bureau
• Transunion