Earlier we discussed how I first found out about Credit Karma and how, as a seasoned financial professional, I was inclined to think that Credit Karma is a scam offer for free credit scores. I decided to do a review after being asked about it repeatedly.
Update: Read here about an opt-in service Credit Karma review credit monitoring as a free additional service.
There are multiple reasons for thinking this service isn’t legitimate, but the main one is that credit scores are not free.
Credit scores are not free for you, they are not free for banks, they are not free for car dealers, they are not free for anyone. Credit scores are the “why didn’t I think of that” invention of the century where personal lending is concerned.
A company called Fair Isaacs takes information from the credit reports at any of the three major credit bureaus and then uses a proprietary algorithm to reduce dozens of pages or more into one single number called a credit score. It does not do this for free. Every time someone pulls your credit score, they pay. They may pay a lot or they may pay a little depending upon their agreement with Fair Issac, but they do pay. You can’t give something that costs you money for free unless you have another way to make more money than you are paying out.
Credit Karma Review of Free Credit Score
Since most free credit score scams are actually free trial offers that lead to an automatic recurring charge on your credit card, I figured that Credit Karma would want a credit card number before giving me my credit score. I know how to beat automatic charges on my credit cards, so I thought I would go through the process anyway and find out for sure whether or not Credit Karma was a scam.
The surprising thing was that they never asked me to enter a credit card number!
As you may recall, I had generated a limited use credit card number to enter, but I didn’t need it. Credit Karma asked for a lot of personal information, but never asked me to enter a credit card number nor any bank account information. In other words, they have no way to charge me for my credit score. It’s tough to scam someone when you don’t get any money from them.
That begs the question, is the credit score from Credit-Karma a real credit score?
Another credit score offering out there are calculators that “estimate” your credit score for you. The catch is that they estimate your credit score based upon the information that you provide. Chances are that there is no way you are going to enter all of the information that exists in your credit report, so it is not a very accurate estimate, no matter how good the credit score calculator program itself is.
That didn’t happen with CreditKarma.com either. Instead of asking me for my financial account information, they asked me for the same type of personal information anyone would need to pull a credit report and get a credit score on me. This does include your social security number and there is no way around that, so at a certain level, you have to trust that the Credit Karma website is legit. So far, I haven’t heard of any rumblings that this is all a very elaborate identity theft scam, although that is no guarantee of anything.
Credit Karma Complaints
The number one CreditKarma complaint is that the credit score is not a real FICO score. However, it is based upon your actual credit report data.
As it turns out, I was buying my car off of its expiring lease when I discovered Credit Karma, so I was able to compare the score CreditKarma.com said I had with the one my auto broker pulled in order to do my car loan paper work. The scores were close enough to be considered identical. (Scores actually very depending upon which credit bureau is used and even from day to day depending upon new information being reporting and aging of old information, but in this case they were within 4 points of each other.)
Now what would make Credit Karma the must have personal finance service for financially savvy people is that it does not just offer you your credit score for free once, but says that you can come back and update it as often as you like. I don’t know if there is a limit on how many times you can update, but I updated my free credit score from Credit Karma every month since May with no complaints.
In other words, I have gotten six free credit scores from CreditKarma.com without paying a cent, without buying anything, and without clicking on any advertisements. There are advertisements on the page, but unless they are the kind that pay just for showing up, they have earned nothing from me other than thanks and this review.
I recently setup an account for my wife (spouses can have very different credit scores even if “everything” is held jointly) and have started getting her free credit score as well.
I can’t say that I expect Credit Karma to be in business long. I doubt that it can earn enough money on what it is doing to make a profit. It might even get shut down by Fair Issac somehow since they don’t want people thinking of its flagship product as “free”. If Credit Karma does succeed, then it won’t be long before copycats are all over the Internet. But, no matter how it turns out down the road, for now, Credit Karma is a great deal for people managing their money.
Tags: Credit Cards, credit karma, credit reports, credit score, free credit scores, Reviews
I’ve used Credit Karma for about a year now and recommend it to friends and family to get access to their credit scores. Yes, you can’t get your actually FICO scores that lenders see but even the score you do pay for at the credit bureaus may be slightly different from what the lenders see. These are all ballpark numbers and gives the person an idea.
There is no fee to sign up for CreditKarma so I don’t know why people are stating they are putting up credit cards or anything of that sort on the site.
The one thing I have noticed recently is that they started showing credit card offers in between the pages of information about your report.
I’ve worked in banking and I know my score the lenders see, the score I pulled from the credit bureau and the score I see on credit karma they are all within a few points of each other.
Just make sure you are actually on the right site and not similar site.
I have used Credit Karma for years now. My one and only complaint is they dont seem to respond to Emails sent to their support in a timely manner. I have been trying to get a new password (for my girlfriend) to get into the system for a few days now. Their system says it will email it to her but we havent received it. Yes we have looked in her Spam Directory. This same thing happened to me a few months ago. Has anyone else had this issue??
In order to access that info, don’t you give the site your SSN?
I’m don’t think I’d want to give that info over to another internet site.
You do have to give them your SSN. It’s the only way to get a credit report or the information in it. I don’t like it either, but until Congress does something, that’s the way the world works. Incidentally, you also have to give your SSN to get your official one-a-year free credit report as mandated by law.
It does ask for credit card number. It is not free.
I just created an account and was never asked for a credit card number. Are you going to the right site?
I am really confused. I opted for the free credit scores because it said “always free” I was, however, asked to put a refundable $1.00 deposit on a credit card. When I got a “welcome to creditkarma email” I just happened to notice that if I didn’t cancel within one week I would automatically be billed??? So I am confused as to how other people are getting the credit scores free month after month!!
Mary, I noticed that Credit Karma has done a significant update to their site to focus on account monitoring rather than credit score monitoring. You may have accidentally signed up for an optional service. I’ll do an update / rewrite in the near future once I have a chance to check everything out fully. Until then, I do believe you can still get the free score updates, however, from the comments and emails I’m getting, it may be trickier to sign up for ONLY the free parts.
To all the people saying that their score from a loan app. was different from credit karma there is a good reason for that. Credit Karma is free because it gives what those in the know call a “fako” score. Not a true FICO score. In fact, real, legit FICO scores for personal use can only be obtained from the equifax and transunion sites. Unfortunately, it is impossible to get your real experian FICO without applying for a loan and getting denied, at which point whoever denied you credit is legally obligated to send you your scores. Fako scores are useful tools to ballpark your scores, but they are not 100% accurate. I currently get a fako experian from 3 different sites each month and they vary by 60 points. As such, I don’t know what my experian is, but I know around where it is. Point being, don’t mistake your fako for your FICO.
-William
I use Credit Karma, I have for a long time, I set my bf up on it and just yesterday I set my sister in law on the site and she signed up herself and her husband, no fees and no problems. I haven’t been able to compare it to anything but it seems fairly accurate enough that I can tell.
I also had a years of identity theft protection company that was given after the playstation fiasco, and they never once found anything suspicious, and I had Credit Karma during the whole thing. I’m a very skeptical and worried person, and I trust the site very much. I looked for reviews recently to kind of find out how the scores compare, but knowing its not FICO and is FAKO or whatever..not sure what that means, but I get the idea that it just means that it may vary slightly. A ball park is still good enough for me to have a good guess, better than not knowing anything.
Thank you for the review.
My profile data wasn’t sufficient or didn’t match theirs so they were unable to provide a credit score. To my knowledge all the information asked for was provided completely and accurately, so I don’t know what the problem is. PL
I notice Credit Karma has 29 BBB complaints recorded over the past 18 months or so. Billing issues comes up often… Looks to me like there might be a snake in the grass after all. I don’t believe in anything being free and when it is free, it’s either a poisoned chalice or not worth having.
Credit Karma does offer some pay-for services and some free services. I don’t see any complaints about people being charged for the free services. Nothing is completely free. Google shows you ads in your free Gmail accounts, as does Facebook, and Twitter. Credit Karma does to. As far as the complaints go, billing issues pertain to the for-fee services. This post isn’t about the extra add-ons you pay for, which I can’t review because I’ve never tried them.
I have been using creditkarma for a long time. It is absolutely legitimate. I would advise anyone with credit to have an account. I have a walmart credit card that gives me a fico score every month and creditkarma is close enough to be a excellent financial tool in managing your credit.
Although I follow my credit score on CK, I have to scratch my head at what they show my credit score. It’s at least 50 points less than all three of the credit bureaus AND my score on FICO, with the same information. Huh?
Remember that there is more than one credit score, even from the same credit report. It depends on if it is for a mortgage or car loan or something else. These services are not useful as a way of knowing exactly what your score is, after all, it changes day to day. What they are useful for is tracking the overall trend. Whether you really have a score of 722 or 698 isn’t as important as if it is going up or down.
The NEW Credit Karma “service” that REQUIRES one to share ID and password to “link” each account is questionable at best. It even wants the password to your bank account? I will never use the site again. Check out credit.com. It is still legitimate it seems.
You don’t have to use the new service. In fact, I think it is still only available to some. The new service, which monitors your accounts (instead of your credit) is very similar to the kinds of things offered by mint.com among others. You have to give them you account names and passwords as well, in order to see “inside” your accounts. You can still just stick with the credit monitoring piece of Credit Karma.com if you prefer. I think this new offering probably deserves its own article.
Have been using creditkarma.com for awhile now. Never was asked for a dime let alone a credit card number. Even got my mom using it. It is the best website to check your credit score. Very accurate and up to date. One of the few sites that says it’s free and means it.
Nicole
PA
One way CK make money – they sell your e-mail address. Shortly after I signed up for CK, I started getting spam, lots of spam. I get 400 or 500 spam e-mails weekly and they started coming right after I signed up for CK. If you sign up for CK, establish a separate e-mail account just for CK.
Ive used CK for over 2 years and also CS neither one is a 100% accurate but they do put you in the ball park. I noticed a lot of complaints on here are your score going down even though you didn’t make any bills or you paid bills off. Well that is why your score is low in order to have a high score you must be in debt but in debt reasonably credit cards need to be less than 2/3rds of the maximum balance, other bills must be paid on time that will keep your score up once you close an acct it drops so trying to stay debt free will not give you a high score just the opposite.
I have been on credit karma for just over a year now. i check my score every couple of days, to see if anything funny pops up on it. For the last 2 months almost 3 months now my score has not moved, up or down. I am looking to get an auto loan, so I checked the site and my score was the same, when into the dealership and they pulled my credit and the score was almost 100 points lower then what as being show on the site to me. And that was the determinate for the loan, if it had been where I had seen it I would of been approved. I will never log on to that site again.
I’ve noticed the scores seem to go “static” for periods of time as well. Maybe it’s time to re-open this investigation.
I have had Credit Karma for almost 2 years. I love it. I think it follows my credit very well. I had co-signed on a loan with my son. When doing a monthly check I saw my score had gone down. I saw it was because my son missed a payment. I got after him, it was paid and in a matter of 2 weeks my credit went back up. I highly recommend it and advise people to check monthly. I haven’t had an increase of junk mail or anything else since signing up.
I signed up for CreditKarma and everything worked fine. I got an accurate credit readout. But, my email account has been absolutely bombed with payday/cash-advance loan offers ever since. They’re obviously sharing my info.
Thank you, Noble Finance Gourmet, for your review on CreditKarma.
I read about it earlier this morning from a comment thread on a site I frequent, and thought I’d do my research to see exactly how they were going to scam me (Years of the internet has taught me that anything involving credit, with the notable exception of annualcreditreport.com was likely to shaft me) After an hour or so of casting a jaundiced eye around the far-flung reaches of cyberspace, I have to say that I’m surprised! There is very little negative publicity for CreditKarma, and what negatives there are are often either for the bogus “kreditkarma” or from people I could charitably refer to as “alarmist.”
I went and reviewed the T&C before I took the plunge and gave them my information. From what I could understand in the T&C (Full disclosure: I am not an attorney, and only speak “pidgin legalese”) it looks like the worst they’ll do is sell your non-personally-identifying information to their “partners” in order to provide targeted advertising at you.
There’s a certain website type, and design out there that utterly screams “I’M TRYING TO DECEIVE YOU” — Look at the websites of online gambling sites, a lot of file hosting sites, sites that try to sell you freely available information, and other credit monitoring sites, and you’ll see what I’m talking about. CreditKarma’s site is not at all like these. They’re very upfront about what they are, what they do. I can best describe the experience as the difference between a personal banker and a used car salesman.
Aesthetics and overall feel aside (that’s all subjective), There was no deception or railroading (frequently dishonest sites will, in the sign-up process, throw up a page for a partner offer with form elements to fill in, without clearly indicating that it is a partner offer) and everything was very straightforward and frank. Kudos go for keeping it simple and transparent.
It seems the most vocal crowd, both on this blog, and elsewhere on the internet, are folks who report that their scores differ on CreditKarma, from elsewhere. From what i’ve found it seems CreditKarma reports lower than other score pulls that they’ve had recently. Even if we ignore the differences between the bureaus, and daily fluctuations of the score, I’d rather have a conservative estimate than an optimistic one.
Overall, from this review and others, CreditKarma seems quite legitimate, and I have been pleased with the service since I signed up this morning.
Cheers!
Credit Karma is a waste, I ran the credit simulation they offer and tacked on a extra inquiree, and tacked on a new account and new balance, pretty much I tacked on every way I could think to see if my credit score would drop.
The dial did not move when I ran the simulation but when I opened a new account bam my credit score dropped 6 points.
Yes I also simulated age of accounts..
There seems to be an awful lot of defense for Credit Karma on here while putting down another site. Makes you wonder who is actually on here. CK isn’t any help other then to get you to sign up for credit repair loans/cards/etc. The score rating is bogus. It shows a 566 right now and I know that my score is a 619. Still bad but not as bad as CK wants me to believe. I know what my score is because I pulled my report from all 3 agencies.
allen,
There is no one “on here” other than me. I’m a freelance writer who used to be a financial advisor. I am most certainly not “connected” to anyone. I’m not sure what “defense” you see, other than me (and others) pointing out what we know.
Remember, the Credit Karma score is not a FICO score. Second, your score will sometimes vary depending upon which credit report was used to generate it. Not all financial companies report the same to all the bureaus. Finally, pulling your score from the agencies won’t necessarily get you a FICO score either. You can get a FICO score from myFICO but even that is only one of several score that exist. The score is different if it is for a mortgage than if it is for a car, for example.
I recommend people use Credit Karma and other similar services to make sure their score is moving in the right direction. If it goes down, then your FICO score might be going down too.
Btw, credit scores are the biggest scam of all. We get judged daily on credit worthiness not knowing why things happened the way they did to effect scores. we have a government so far in debt that they will never get out yet credit is extended at every turn. The whole system is a scam.
My credit score is 619. Not great, I know. Credit Karma keeps bouncing my score like a ping ping ball. 566 as of today, down from 595 yesterday. Gotta love how that happens. All credit cards are paid off. No loan apps. No credit apps. something at CC just isn’t right. and since I signed up I have received phone calls for bills from 8 years ago. Only way to get my number is through here. Didn’t have this number 8 years ago. CC is fishy at best.
Allen,
You are mad at CK because you have a poor score and probably because you haven’t always paid your bills on time. I have used it for 2 years and I find it quite accurate. Take a deep breath my friend…
I find it very interesting that after using Credit Karma, I had people trying to open credit card accounts using my name and SS#. These people knew the answers to the security questions that are asked. I have NO credit cards and am very careful with my information.
I vote: SCAM
I have been using credit karma for months with not a single problem. I have become much more aware of my credit habits thanks to credit karma.
[...] service on the surface, but let’s dive in an look deeper.Just like we noted when doing our Credit Karma review, the credit score you get from Credit Sesame is not a free FICO score. While the Credit Karma score [...]
Thank you for the good words! As a long-time employee here, just want to definitively clear up a few misconceptions:
1. Yes, it’s completely free. No paid subscription. You can pull your score an unlimited amount of times. Free.
2. They are indeed “soft” pulls, so there is no impact on your score.
3. Your score will vary using different credit sites because they come from different bureaus. We provide the TransRisk score from TransUnion. As a member myself (even before employment here), this score is accurate in terms of gauging loan/credit worthiness. I used Credit Karma to apply for a mortgage before coming here, and the score was only a few points off from the eventual middle score my lender used.
Once again, thank you for the good press and I’d encourage anybody with questions to contact us.
I just found out credit Karma does not show your correct score. Try creditsesame.com My score for credit Karma says 620 and on credit sesame its 700. I have worked very hard to pay my bills on time, just payed off my chapter 13 and relied on CK to be accurate and its not. I think they suck!
Comparing two free sites and deciding which one you like better doesn’t really seem like a very solid way to determine which one is more accurate.
You’ll want to compare to a real credit score you get when applying for credit. Check with your bank, sometimes they have a relatively recent credit score on file for you. They pull them every so often to see what services to market.
Also, check out my write up on Credit Sesame here.
Being a financial expert and pulling multiple credit reports daily – - I would say the lower score is more indicative of a recently paid off bankrupcy in the past few years. I would throw the higher one in the trash.
You’re right. they are trying to tell me my score is nearly 80 points higher than it actually is… I’ve been using CK for over a year now and they have always been off by 50+ points or more. I’ve heard some say over a 100pts.. The biggest problem is its still not your real score. I signed up with Equifax and their numbers are bogus too.. (Found out buying my last 2 cars, that they were high also).. As far as I can tell there is no way to get your real score as the scoring is always different depending on the type of loan…
I stopped logging on to Credit Karma! I do not have good credit (it was tanked in a divorce three years ago). I have been trying and trying to repair my credit. My bank pulled a number when I was denied financing and it was in the upper 600′s (yeah, bad). Credit Karma showed low 600′s. Every time I hit the refresh/update button over the course of three months, it ONLY went down, down, down… Yet, in those three months no debt, bad debt, loan applications, nothing occurred that was negative – nothing! If anything, it would have gotten better, not worse. My concern is this constant downgrade at each update is affecting my score.
The credit pulls from Credit Karma, if they are even reported, would be considered “soft pulls” and would not affect your credit. Your credit is calculated based both on negative things that hurt your score AND positive things that increase it. Your good credit accounts are aging away at the same rate as your bad credit.
If your situation permits consider doing something with credit that is positive. A small credit card that you diligently pay on time every month, for example.
Thank you! I had opened a small credit card, six months ago, and have paid it on time without issues, which is why I was not understanding how every-time I hit refresh on Credit Karma, my rate always drops… I stopped going on their site for this very reason.
I decided to give ‘Credit Karma’ a whirl b4 I found this review. All you said in your review turned out to be 100% correct. As I’m retired and most of my friends are still working, I like to pass on ‘finds’ to them in order to hopefully save them some time/$$$/etc. Be4 I recommend ‘Credit Karms’ I decided to do more research…I found you and now I’m emailing this review along w/the ‘Credit Karma’ website to my friends. Many thanx – Rongrant
Thank you for your comment and for your vote of confidence. I’m glad the information was useful to you.
I am certainly glad they don’t charge for their poor service. I had a home modifacation removed from my credit on all three bureaus that showed 38 past due payments along with a bankruptcy. On Karma my score didn’t change for 4 months but had increased on all bureaus the first month of the four. My score for over 129 days was 150-176 points higher in the bureaus than on Karma. Poor unrelable service.
You can’t remove a bankruptcy off your credit report…
No, but they do come off after 10 years. Most other negative items come off after 7 years.
A bankruptcy CAN be removed from your credit record if…
the bankruptcy was placed on your record IN ERROR.
It could be a lot of work proving that the bankruptcy was not yours, though.
Anything can be removed from your credit report if it can be proved to be an error. I would think bankruptcy would be one of the easier things to remove since there are publicly recorded court documents available.
I have been using Credit Karma since November of 2010 and have never been asked for a credit card number. When I went to go buy a Cadillac I updated my score on credit Karma before I went to the dealership so I could compare what they showed as my score and what Credit Karma said and it was 2 points different (dang close). They make their money from the credit card companies that advertise on their site I beleive.
Credit Karma is awesome! I was never asked for a credit card number so it really is free! I’m trying to buy a house so monitoring my credit score is really important right now. I’m not much into remarking on or grading websites but I wanted other people to know that this site is not a scam but that it is authentic, free, and super informative!
Thank you for the review! Amazing website. I was weary at first of using CreditKarma but it did NOT ask me for a credit card or anything. NOT A SCAM!
Glad it was helpful. Thanks for getting in touch and sharing your experience.
I just tried to sign up to Karma, they ask for a credit card and the fine print said i would be charged $1.00 REFUNDABLE but if I didn’t call a 800 number within 7 days I would be charged mothly until cancelled
Had a couple of reports about this. I’ll re-check and see if things have changed. However, I’ve also gotten reports of a Credit Karma scam where a website called KreditKarma.com has copied the real site and is scamming users out of money. Be sure you got the right one and be sure to dispute any charges that they make on your card.
i thought you did not need a credit card. They asked for one so this is a scam.
I was not asked for a credit card when I signed up, nor has anyone else I’ve heard from. Did you sign up for something extra?
Sandra must have went to kreditkarma.com which is a knock off site. Make sure you spell it right! creditkarma.com!
i signed up on credit Karma and they said my file was too thin
27 days later i got a letter from a collection svc about a 19 yr credit card debt
so they had to have sold my info
I have been using creditkarma since 2010 and update every month and have never had a problem
[...] a review of Credit Kama here on FinanceGourmet, a reader asked if I would look into another service he had found called [...]
Credit Karma only gives you your TransUnion Score????
Credit Karma gives you a score based upon your TransUnion credit report. All credit scores, even those your bank pulls when you apply for a loan, are based upon ONE credit report.
[...] credit score reporting services like Credit Karma to monitor credit scores free. Check out the CreditKarma review here on Finance Gourmet for more [...]
[...] Is Credit Karma a scam for free credit scores? Let’s find out. *{margin:0; padding:0;} #socialbuttonnav li{background:none;overflow:hidden;width:65px; height:80px; line-height:30px; margin-right:2px; float:left; text-align:center;} #fb { text-align:center;border:none; } [...]
Even though I am 46 but have never used a credit card, never borrowed money, never owned a home or a new car, never went to college and have never taken out loans etc., I signed up with credit karma just to see if it gave me a credit score at all. After I filled out everything I had a credit score of 745 or something like that. I think they came up with that score by using the home address where I am currently renting a bedroom, and they also used the cars associated with the home owner, not me. So this was not a accurate score in my case since I am not the home owner.
The scores are computed from your own credit report which is tied to your Social Security number, so someone else’s cars and the like won’t help / hurt. Don’t forget, bank accounts (even check and savings accounts) and your rental history can end up on your credit report, as can on-time payments of utility bills, cell phone bills, medical bills and others. Even in the unlikely case that you have never done anything that was reported to your credit report, that still means you have no late payments, your debt to income ratio is very high, and so on, all of which would add up to a good score.
[...] about this CreditKarma.com free credit monitoring review along with your free credit score. See my CreditKarma.com review for a complete look of Credit Karma. Also check this if you are worried about the whole thing being [...]
The Government, Federal Trade Commission (FTC),requires each of the three credit agencies; Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion to provide one free credit report annually. The FTC site is;
http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pub.....cre34.shtm
They send you to this site;
https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp
So, you don’t need to go through these other agencies, you can get three reports legally free. And I think if you request one from each one separately, you can check out your credit 3 times a year.
You are correct. You can get your credit REPORT for free once per year from each of the three agencies. There is no requirement to offer a free credit SCORE, and none of the three credit bureaus do. In fact, they’ll try and sell you a “free credit score” that is actually an auto-renewing trial membership in their overpriced credit monitoring service.
I am very pleased with Credit Karma. I first heard about it last year from one of the financial websites I am subscribed to. If not for that endorsement, I would have been leary of trying it. They actually remind you to update your credit score if you have not for a while. I just updated mine today. I totally trust them.
I was going to try it but after looking around im thinking no. if creditkarma.com is owned by transunion like the author claims i find it odd the registrar is Go Daddy.com and not CSC CORPORATE DOMAINS, INC. like it is for for transunion..maybe nothing to it but it bothers me.
I think you might not understand what a registrar is. GoDaddy.com is a domain name registrar. You buy domain names through them. Everyone has to buy a domain name from a registrar, even big companies. I think I got FinanceGourmet.com from 1and1.com but they don’t have anything to do with the site other than hosting the name. Likewise, CSC Corporate Domains has nothing to do with TransUnion other than being who they bought the domain name from.
You’ll find lots of domains with a GoDaddy registrar. They are one of the biggest and the cheapest, although I wouldn’t recommend them.
I’ve been using credit karma since Jun 2009 without a problem. I think they make a significant amount of money by advertising for credit card and loan companies. It is a win/win for you and the banks. The banks are always going to make money off of you, but credit karma does help you wade through large amounts of financial data. I could figure out what credit card would give me the best rewards based on the type of spending I do.
I think they make their money on referral fees from the credit cards they recommend for you…just like airlines do. It’s lucrative, and it works, but it’s a good deal for the consumer too, since you have no obligations.
It all looks good and well, and everybody knows that there is a “BUT coming here.
They do not want your credit card info. But they do have all of the other pertinent information needed to steal your Identity. Not saying that is what is up.
But now they have your SS#, address, phone numbers, Spouses name and chances are some next of kin names and numbers. Everything needed to apply for credit cards, auto loans and mortgages. What is to say this is not the grand scheme of things. Just asking? I do hope this all legit. I sure could use a way to monitor my credit score.
Credit Karma is owned by Transunion, one of the three major credit reporting bureaus. They already have all that information and more. They use those fields to to match you to your credit record and, probably, update any information you have on file already.
The form never asks for your entire SSN, ONLY the last 4.
I signed up for Credit Karma in Dec last year, since then I’ve paid off over half my credit card debt but Credit Karma is still showing the old debt level with no change in my score since I first signed up, so my question is do they really update your score frequently or is more like once every six months or some other long time period?
I found the problem: you have to actually click on the Update button to get a new reading on your score and data.
Yeah, the update button is right there, but with all of that stuff on the page it’s easy to miss it.
They do’t update every time you click update. Transunion is the worst of the bureaus and you have to keep contacting them to accurately remove improper or false files. It usually take them several months to catch up with the quality bureaus.
I checked my credit score in creditkarma.com it gave me a hight credit score than, myfico.com.
I want to know why,or which one is true?
First, the credit score from creditkarma.com is computed by Credit Karma using data from your credit report. It is modeled on the FICO score, but is not a FICO score. The score from myfico.com is theoretically the more “real” score, however, scores are snapshots of a single point in time. It will be higher or lower tomorrow depending on if anything new gets reported to the credit bureaus. Second, even the score from MyFico may not be the “real” score depending upon which one of the several types of FICO scores a lender chooses to use.
There is a lawsuit brewing around just this issue. So many people are paying to see “their credit score” and actually have no idea what they are being shown, nor are those who sell the access making it clear what they are showing.
For now, don’t focus on what the score is, focus on whether it is going up or down. Whether you have a 720 or a 730 is only important when you actually apply for credit. However, if your credit score (whichever one you are looking at) goes from 730 to 710, you need to find out why and, if possible, undo it.
ok. The paranoia level seems a bit out of control here. I have been using CreditKarma.com for years now with no perceptible spike in credit offers or financial spam. Just great free B.S. free credit reports. I am glad to see some other people digging into the legalese as yes I was wary at first only because of all of the predatory companies out there that have offered me free credit reports before. The big companies Equifax/Experian etc are the worst! Talk about a scam? Free credit report.com SCAMMMM. Between amazing services like Mint.com and creditkarma.com and having an amazing bank like INGdirect.com Things are going pretty well. I LOVE ING!!! One thing the obama administration hit out of the park were these credit card reforms. I noticed (evil)bankofamerica has a class action lawsuit on their hands right now for ripping people off to the tune of several billion dollars by luring people in with a 0% rate and then at the first late payment jacking them up to 36% interest rate like they did to me. That is my last credit card mar on my credit score and I cant wait to start paying it own over the next year. BOA you bunch of THUGS. Im paying 16.8% on 5000 and probably have paid 5000 to get a 5000 loan from you turkeys. God I hope you guys in the credit division crash and burn. I hope the building you are sitting at there in Charlotte NC has faulty plumbing and the sewage backs up so high you are all up to your noses! ok ok rant over.
creditkarma.com seems ok to me.
and p.s.
social media managers are typically young internet savvy people who work on a contract basis for different companies. They usually aren’t corporate robots like you DON. chill out. Her picture is fine… is she supposed to be wearing a Hillary Clinton style pantsuit to make you happy? Go get a massage and loosen up a little.
I have used credit karma for over a year now, and I never have had any problems with them. I found out about them through a company called TransCard, which I got my bosses to use them for petty cash instead of Wester Union. Credit Karma has never sent me any spam emails and I have never received any phone calls on any phone in the house or cell phone from them, though the funny thing is that I get phone calls of people trying to sell me credit monitoring services for Discover Card and Citi bank.
Overall, I use Credit Karma and it has helped me to build my credit. I got it after I got my first card and following its tips I have increased by score alot.
Thanks for sharing your experience. I’m glad that it is working out for you.
I have been using Credit Karma for over two years and have had no problems. The information they provide is legitimate and the tools they have to help you improve your credit score are invaluable. Yes they are ad supported and make money by offering you ways to improve your scores through signing up for additional credit cards, insurance carriers and even banks. It works more like affiliate marketing. But the basic service is FREE and available without the use of any credit card you may have now.
I read your article carefully before signing up for Credit Karma. But, I also checked them out with the BBB (they are a member). Their BBB score is A-. If people feel they are being “scammed” by this web site then I suggest a complaint to the BBB.
Mitch
I think they share your credit score with companys that solicit you about financial offers. A company called my cell phone the day after I tried the service. It realy dosent bother me because I did read all of the disclosures and in them it said they would share my info with theyre “Partners”.
The day after signing up is probably too fast to attribute it to signing up. It takes a bit longer to package a phone list and sell it and then for those who use the lists to call the numbers on it. I’m not saying it can’t happen, I’m just saying that would be VERY fast for something like that to happen.
You gave them your name address, birthdate, phone number and SSN?nTo someone you don’t know? Now you act like a spokesman for them. The truth is that you have no idea how they may eventually use that very private information. Just because they haven’t used it yet for identity theft or anothermscam is no guarantee they won’t in the future. No one should EVER give out that kind of information to any person or site you don’t know well.
And as an aside, the response from “Justine” the “social media manager” disturbs me as much. No professional company would ever allow an executive to send out a picture like that. I realize its “social media” but its still a business!
I used something and it worked out, so I told people about it. I would prefer people do something like this instead of signing up for a “free” credit score only to end up on the hook for a $10+ per month credit monitoring service that they don’t want or need. I’m not sure how that is acting like a spokesman.
I’m not sure what your criteria for giving out your information is, but my name, address, and phone number go out to anyone who ships something to my house. My birthday isn’t much of a secret, either. I am very careful about who I give my SSN out to, but the fact is that it is impossible for anyone to get a credit report (and thus a credit score) without a social security number. There is no way around it.
I say SCAM!!! I entered all my pertinent information (Name, Address, SS#, Phone #) which hasn’t changed in the last (30)
THIRTY years, have only had ONE SS# and am 74 years of age.
By their standards “UNABLE TO VERIFY INFORMATION” after they have ALL my information.
Now I have to call all three Credit B’s and put a FRAUD warning on.
[...] is no one “real” credit score.How Do I Get My Real Credit Score For Free?In a recent review of CreditKarma.com we showed you how to get your credit score for free. As far as I know, Credit Karma is the only way [...]
signed up but cant verify the link in my email to log on thanks jerry
If you mean at Credit Karma, you’ve got the wrong place.
If you mean here at Finance Gourmet, looks like you are commenting just fine
This website creditsuit.org/credit.php/blog/creditkarma_another_scam_stay_away_from_lying_thugs/
has the truth about CK:
Not until you sign up, do you get the term where they hide in many pages of legalese:
At the time that you submit your registration form to us for a free credit score, you will automatically be enrolled to receive periodic valuable offers for products and services from our Partners.
And:
Our Partners
Credit Karma shows personalized offers based on consumer credit profiles. These offers are from partners and advertisers who share our vision of consumer empowerment. The premise of our service is to provide value to both consumers and advertisers equally by using advertising revenue to subsidize the cost of credit scores, and then matching offers to users appropriately based on their credit profile.
“These offers are from partners and advertisers who share our vision of consumer empowerment. “
Bob,
Thank your for your comment.
First, the Terms of Use are available at the bottom of the home page just like they are on most websites. There is no requirement for you to sign up before you can see them. You can view them at any time without logging in or creating an account. Or, you can use this link.
Second, it is pretty clear that Credit Karma is advertising supported and I made note of that fact in my review. I see plenty of ads on the site. Whether or not they will ever send some sort of email offer, I can’t say, but I haven’t gotten anything from them or their partners other than an approximately monthly email that says “my credit score may have changed”. I also have not gotten anything in the mail that is different than the standard stuff I get.
The text you quoted could use some context. The very next sentence after the first quote you cite is, “As set forth in more detail in our privacy policy, we will not share your credit report and score with our Partners.” I think that is a pretty important piece of information to get left out. In fact, the Terms of Use go hand in hand with most website’s privacy policy so that would be worth reading as well. (Again, there is no need to sign up before viewing.)
More importantly is the fact that while that author has chosen to play up these “privacy issues” these terms are virtually identical to many commonly used online services including Mint.com and even Google and their advertising programs.
In other words, yes, you will see ads on Credit Karma but you will get free access to your real credit score on an ongoing basis. I am willing to let them throw some ads up on my computer screen in exchange.
[...] Is Credit Karma A Scam Free Credit Score Offer? Finance Gourmet answers a big resounding yes; Credit Karma is absolutely, 100% scam-free! [...]
I just started CK with the suggestion of my friend, who has had NO problems whatsoever. I was never asked for a card number, which made me more confident. I think that the websites that some people are getting onto aren’t legitemate CK sites. Remember, before you click on the website, look at the tiny identification sites below the one you are going to click on. If it says anything other than creditkarma, then another domain/scammmer probably has the website set up different.
Hello!
Just wanted to drop by and say thank you for spreading the good word about Credit Karma.
I totally understand your skepticism about the possibility of a free credit score, but I’m glad that Credit Karma convinced you that it is possible to get your credit score for free anytime and as often as you like. In our office, we think that is a consumer right and a way to empower yourself to build healthier credit on your own!
If you have any questions or feedback, please feel free to email me.
We hope your readers will share your enthusiasm about our free credit scores.
Also, just as a side note, you don’t have to worry about Credit Karma going out of business. We will be around for a long long time, and will ALWAYS provide free credit scores with no plans whatsoever to ever, ever charge you. =) Thanks again.
Cheers,
Justine
Social Media Manager
Credit Karma
I must say that my expeience has been all positive. Very accurate to the two reporting services I have compared.”eqifax-transunion”. Take the time to make a profile, add a picture, tune up the the details they give the options to do so. Remember we are just trying to make ourselves credit worthy, it has its privledges.
I hope someday creditors will use C/C’s service. They are the only Co. not wanting to start a revalving charge at my exspense.
Thanks Credit Karma
Dan
indiana
Credit Karma is just another internet parasite.