After mega retailer Target had the largest identity theft breach in history, it is now offering Free Credit Monitoring, through Experian for 12 months. After 40 million debit and credit cards were stolen by hackers at Target retailers, this is how they plan to make up for it. I’m here to tell you, I was elated to hear about the free service, so I decided to check it out before I advised a ton of my friends and clients to jump on board.
Free Credit Monitoring from Target and Experian – Pro’s
1) It’s Free – Free is always a good thing.
2) It’s secure – Experian is very good about keeping information secure.
3) Credit Report – You get to see 1 out of your 3 credit reports (Experian).
4) Credit Monitoring Alerts – You get alerts to any changes on your Experian report.
5) It’s Free – Did I mention that it’s free?
Target’s Free Credit Monitoring from Experian – Con’s
1) You only get to see 1/3 of the picture – You only have access to an Experian Credit Report, not the other 2 reporting agencies.
2) No Credit Scores – You have to pay to upgrade to see your Experian Credit Score.
3) It’s not really free – You get the absolute bare bones with this credit monitoring service. To view your tri-merge credit report (a report which shows information from all three credit bureaus; Equifax, Experian and Transunion) you will need to pay $14.99
4) The Credit Report is lacking – The information in the credit report is the bare minimum also. It’s missing important information pertaining to your accounts like the date of last activity on each account.
5) They encourage you to dispute online – If you’ve followed me, Jesse Rodriguez, on YouTube, FaceBook or Google+ you know that I always recommend that you never dispute online, because online credit repair disputes are bad. Credit Bureaus DO NOT want you to have good credit, they profit from you if you have bad credit. They make it easy for you to dispute online so you agree to their “terms and conditions” where they take away some of your legal rights under the Fair Credit Reporting Act.
To use Target Credit Monitoring or Not?
If you have no money, and just need to see a free credit report (that is lacking important information without paying a fee), I’d say yes, go for Target’s Free Credit Monitoring and DO NOT upgrade to any of the added services.
Other Credit Report and Credit Monitoring Options
There are several options to obtain a recent copy of your credit report, and I will list them in the order of what I personally recommend.
1) ScoreSense Credit Monitoring – http://goo.gl/qfmKe1
This is one of the best places to obtain a FREE credit report. You can view your report for free for 7 days, if you continue with their service after the 7 days it is $29 to monitor your credit and pull a credit report monthly! *SECRET* If you call to cancel because it is “too expensive,” they will give you the FULL service for $12 per month.
2) PrivacyGuard
Another GREAT place to get a three bureau credit report and sign up for credit monitoring. They charge $1 for your first report and after 14 days, it is $15 per month to have monitoring and a monthly credit report.
Annual Credit Report is the FREE government mandated credit report. You get one per year. Yes, it’s 100% free but be prepared to be confused and frustrated. *NEVER EVER EVER EVER Dispute ANY negative items on your credit report after pulling an Annual Credit Report. You need to use one of the services above to pull your credit report if you plan to dispute items. When you use Annual Credit Report, the bureaus are given 45 days to respond to your disputes instead of the mandated 30 days. This significantly lowers your deletion ratio.
Last but not least, if you want to schedule a FREE Credit Audit and Consultation, Click Here and I will personally look at your Credit Report and map out a plan of action to improve and maximize your Credit Scores.
How to sign up for Target’s Free Credit Monitoring
1) Go to creditmonitoring.target.com
2) Input your full name and e-mail
3) Target e-mails you an activation code
4) Use your unique code to register at protectmyid.com/target
5) Input your personal information and setup a login for the website
6) Review your Credit Report
If you would like to schedule a FREE Credit Audit and Consultation, Click Here and I will personally look at your Credit Report and map out a plan of action to improve and maximize your Credit Scores.
