Where to Get a Free Annual Credit Report

For better or worse we live in an age when financial identity is a target of thieves. With a social security number and small amount of personal information, an unscrupulous person can easily open lines of credit and access bank accounts of an unsuspecting victim. Such an attack can have devastating effects on the victim's credit. The frequency of identity theft has brought attention to the problem and now more and more people are aware that they must proactively protect their credit.

The easiest and most effective protection is regularly monitoring credit reports. The Federal Trade Commission is charged with the task of enforcing the Fair and Accurate Credit Transactions Act of 2003, which requires credit bureaus to provide a free copy of credit reports every 12 months to any American citizen that files a request.

It can take just 20 minutes to retrieve all three credit reports from the different bureaus via the FTC-run www.annualcreditreport.com. The only information required is name, address, Social Security number and date of birth. If you have moved in the last two years, you will likely have to provide a previous address. There may be other questions regarding your credit history for security purposes.

If you would rather receive hard-copies via U.S. mail, your free annual credit reports will be mailed to you within 15 days of your request.