Experian Free Review – Scam, Legit, Worth It?

Did you see commercials for a free credit service from Experian.  They do something clever in that they de-emphasize the free credit score idea and instead play up the concept that “credit is a skill” rather than a number. This is actually true advice, even if it isn’t what most people are looking for.

This new push is undoubtedly a response to the growing number of free credit score services out there like Credit Karma, Credit Sesame, and WalletHub. Keep in mind there is no Experian free credit score offering, but we’ll get to that in a minute. This is also not the same thing as getting your annual free credit report that is required by federal law.

Free Experian Credit Report Not Free Experian Credit Score

Is Experian a scam? There are plenty of unsavory things about Experian’s business, but at least they are not some new free credit report, or free credit score business. Experian is one of the three major credit bureaus, and they have been around for a long time. If you have ever had a credit card, mortgage, car loan, or personal loan, chances are, they already have a report on you with all of your information. Which means, unlike some of the other newer free credit report businesses, you don’t have to worry about giving them your data, they already have it.

The credit bureaus lobbied Congress hard to keep people from being able to get their credit reports for free. They lost that fight (sort-of) several years ago when Congress required them to give you ONE free credit report every year. While this is better than nothing, credit fraud, and inaccurate information on credit reports is an epidemic in America, and the only defense is to monitor your credit report regularly, so that once per year thing doesn’t really cut it. Since, many lenders report your information to all three credit bureaus, you can work the system to get a free credit report more than once a year by staggering your requests for your free annual credit report to every four months.




However, in the last few years, many financial companies have begun offering a free look at your credit report as a way to market their services. Some of these offers are pretty legit, others are scams that actually sign you up for expensive credit monitoring subscriptions. So, at risk of becoming ignored, it looks like Experian is going to play ball.

It is important to be careful about what you sign up for. Experian is a scam when it comes to signing up for a free credit score. (That’s SCORE not REPORT, there is a difference.)

Actually, you can get an Experian credit score for $1… until you read the fine print. The reason they charge you that one dollar, instead of giving you a free credit score, is so that they can get your credit card number. And, they’ll use that credit card number to charge you $21.95 PER MONTH for a membership in something called Experian CreditWorks, which is essentially nothing more than an email alert if there is a change on your credit report. The annual cost is $263.40 for that! So, CreditWorks is a scam, no matter how much “credit is a skill.”

experian free credit report score

That being said, you can sign up for a free monthly credit report from Experian. The Experian free monthly credit report is not a scam. You don’t even need a credit card number to sign up.

This is IMPORTANT! Do NOT sign up for anything that requires a credit card number. If you do, you are signing up for the wrong thing, and YOU WILL BE CHARGED.

The free credit report from Experian is much the same as you’ll get from other companies, or even from your existing bank accounts or credit card companies. It’s basically a list of information about you, including all the credit accounts you have open, and even the ones that you have closed, along with a payment history.

This is a valuable tool to use to improve your credit score, even if you don’t have the actual credit score number. Most the free credit score services actually give you a fake, or FAKKO, credit score anyway. What IS important is the information on your credit report is what is used to calculate your real credit score.

The most critical thing is to make sure that everything on your credit report is accurate. If you see accounts that you don’t recognize, call them. Often, it’s an old account that you forgot all about. There is no reason to close them if they have a zero balance. It still counts as a paid, existing, line of credit, which is a plus for you.

If there is anything that shows up as negative, correct it as soon as possible. Everything on your credit score ages, so the sooner you correct any issues, the faster negative information gets taken off your credit report. It takes years to fully disappear, but a missed payment five years ago, counts less than a missed payment five months ago.

Be sure to only sign up for the FREE service (it won’t ask for a credit card number) and use it to keep an eye on your credit report. If everything is correct, and you’re making all of your payments on time, your credit score will take care of yourself, even if you don’t know exactly what it is.



9 thoughts on “Experian Free Review – Scam, Legit, Worth It?”

  1. First experian freezed my credit file that I never requested them to do so. Then several month ago, I tried to refinance my mortgage the loan officer could not look into my score because my credit file was freezed I then go to their website to find a way to unfreeze it. They asked me to register then suddenly they put me in a membership plan then charged my bank card for months since October 2019 that I didn’t realize. Now I couldn’t able to reach them or will they damage my credit score once I request them to refund or cancel the membership.

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  2. Thanks for your website and the information herein. I’m an 86 year old that is reasonably savvy, but too quick to make a decision and don’t pay attention to the details. With my 5th month noticing a charge on my AM credit card from Experian for $19.95, I finally paid attention that I’ve been. I thought there was a one time charge of $19.95. I don’t recall to confirming to a monthly contract for a credit report. My Fico score has always been excellent, and why I bothered at this point to double check with Experian is beyond me.

    My question is what I can to do stop this monthly scam payment to Experian. I’m thinking of having my current AE card cancelled, and have them issue me a new card. I don’t even know how to request from Experian that my subscription or membership cancelled. A few months ago I requested that they stop or unsubscribe my daily or weekly garbage notices, which they have done. But they do persist is sending me the monthly bill

    Any suggestions would be appreciated. They truly are a scam.

    Reply
    • I suppose the easiest way would be to log back into Experian and cancel the service. Barring that, you can call them and fight your way through the phone tree that answers. Often there is a phone number along with the charge on your credit card statement that you could try calling. Cancelling your American Express card to get out of an auto-pay sounds a bit extreme, but it’s definitely better than continuing to pay.

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  3. This company is supposed to protect its customers from credit fraud. Yet, Experian systems allowed a potentially fraudulent transaction to execute inside their own systems without warning or alerts. someone else’s payment for a credit report, with completely different name and address, was charged to my credit card on file, all while telling me the card is invalid and membership fees cannot be charged to it. To add insult to injury, the card in question is listed by for monitoring for any suspicious activities. There is a final straw. When I contested the charge, Experian customer service uncovered the problem, and I asked about refunding the amount, a mere $25, the answer was simple. No credit. Go contest the charge with your credit card company. Obviously, the I am no longer a customer of Experian but this makes me wonder. If they won’t stand behind $25, does their million dollar guarantee even exists? I am not even going to dive into how many times their phone systems disconnected me and how every time their support made me start from the beginning.

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  4. my Experian report shows a loan applied for same day I signed on to get report, not on any other report and I DID NOT APPLY FOR IT, never even heard of Clarity services, now I have a hard hit on credit for a loan I don’t have or ever intended to have

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  5. Please post the effective date with each article.

    Your site is excellent, with very helpful info. But, financial information constantly changes so fast that it is essential to know the date your article was written. Old information can be just as misleading as wrong information.

    Thanks for your great work and help.

    Reply
  6. I checked my credit rating for a dollar December 2015. A year and a half later I learned they’d deducted almost $27 a month for 18 months. I’m out over $450.00 for a single credit check. I called and I waited an hour for the manager and I demanded my money back. They only refunded a single month. What a scam. Can’t wait to join the class action and get some of my money back.

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  7. Using free credit report for my daughter she wanted to know her score so I paid the $1 to find out. Experian then put me on a recurring charge for 21.95!!! I did not request it!

    I have to assume they did their best to hide that a subscription was involved. I usually look for this kind of deception, but did not see it. It was not until I saw my bill that I had any clue. Experian was willing to cancel the membership, but would not discuss reimbursing the membership I had no intent to sign up for or use.

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