Freecredit Montgomery

Once the government gave consumers the right to a free copy of their credit report, the bureaus moved aggressively to tap the consumer market. sales of credit freecredit Montgomery data to consumers negligible in 2000 hit $220 million in 2003, soared to $488 million in 2006, and should top $860 million by 2010, says Craig Focardi, financial services analyst at market researcher freecredit Montgomery TowerGroup. Though consumer sales make up only a fraction of the bureaus' lender-centric operations, they have become the bureaus' fastest-growing source of revenue. But this windfall derives from an online marketing free-for-all in which many websites and promotional offers aren't what they seem. online credit score "Consumers face freecredit Montgomery a bewildering variety of things to click on, some of which is valid, much of which is not," says Pam Dixon, executive director of the World Privacy Forum. The bureaus make no apologies for how and what they sell to consumers. The biggest bureau, Dublin-based Experian, reported $375 million in consumer sales in its fiscal year ended last April. "Unhappy consumers don't buy your stuff," Experian's Girard says. "We've been averaging about 20% growth in our direct-to-consumer business, year over year. check credit free That's due to happy consumers." Not all consumers are endeared with Experian. The company's well-known subsidiary, Consumerinfo.com, has been fined twice by the FTC. In August 2005, Experian paid the FTC $950,000 to settle charges that Consumerinfo.com misled consumers into subscribing to an $80-a-year credit-monitoring service. In February, Experian paid the FTC a smaller fine $300,000 to settle a second round of similar complaints.

Experian admitted no wrongdoing in either FTC case. On Consumerinfo.com's home page, that freecredit Montgomery disclaimer is in small, light blue lettering on dark blue background next to a large "order now" button for a credit monitoring subscription.

In March, about a month after Experian paid its second FTC fine, Melissa Duenas, 28, a customer service representative in Denver, surfed to Experian.com in an attempt to obtain her free credit report. free annual credit check She recalls being guided to a Web page where she typed in a credit card number, as directed, thinking it was part freecredit Montgomery of verifying her identity.