LifeLock

If you read the New York Times, or keep up with Federal Trade Commission rulings, or follow the Florida Attorney General’s investigations, you probably already know that Experian’s widely advertised offers of F-R-E-E credit reports aren’t free—at least after the seven-day trial period of the credit monitoring service.

What? You’ve never heard about that last part? Well, get out the magnifying glass and read the really, really, really fine print. Hence, the hot water the corporation seems to be in perpetually with all the agencies named above, as reported earlier this week by the New York Times.

But what about those wildly popular commercials featuring the lovable, curly-haired, cutie-pie slacker with the rotten credit? How could such a nice guy get caught up in such sleazy misadvertising? Has yet another tragedy befallen our hero?

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FREE! FREE! FREE! Get Your FREE Credit Report Online in Seconds!!!!
Click here to get a FREE copy of your online Credit Report Instantly!
And that’s not all. . . along with your INSTANT credit report, we’ll give
you 30 FREE days of the Credit Check Monitoring Service at no obligation.

What’s wrong with this ad? The free credit reports Experian advertises aren’t free; they’re a teaser for Experian’s credit monitoring service, Triple Advantage. When callers requested their “free” credit reports, they were asked for credit card information and assured it was necessary only to establish their accounts, but would not be charged…and then they were enrolled in Triple Advantage and their cards were charged $79.95.

Adding insult to injury, Experian again used the credit card information to renew accounts without notification or consent, a violation of federal law.

In 2003, the Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC) asked the Federal Trade Commission to investigate Experian. When the investigation was completed in 2005, the FTC had determined that Experian deceptively marketed their credit reports and credit monitoring service in radio, TV, email and internet ads. (more…)

Today’s New York Times features an article on Experian and their commercials touting free credit reports. The article focuses on Experian’s wildly popular commercials that feature catchy tunes with the lyrics “Free credit report dot com,” or “F-R-E-E that spells free.”

The first problem with these commercials is that when you order your “free” credit report from their website, freecreditreport.com, you’ll be enrolled in a $15 a month credit monitoring program. The Federal Trade Commission has already fined Experian almost $1 million for misleading advertising, but the commercials continue, and there’s another one coming out this week.

Experian calls this “aggressive marketing,” in spite of their previous legal problems and continued complaints to the FTC by consumer protection agencies United States Public Interest Research Group, ConsumerInfo.com and Consumer Action. (more…)

Credit Bureaus are businesses.

There is a common misconception that the credit bureaus are government entities, or at the very least, not-for-profit agencies, created and regulated to act and conduct business in the best interest of the consumers they represent.

In fact, they are very much for profit. In fact, in the case of Experian, they make their money selling the information they collect on 215 million consumers around the world. As of 2006, Experian had revenue of $3.1 billion, and a net income of $520 million. That money comes from several different products and services, but the raw material is the consumers’ information. (more…)