Video: Where to get your free credit report

Larger screen

By law, you're entitled to one free credit report a year, but do you really know where to find it?

The commercial for freecreditreport.com probably comes to mind when you think about that free credit report you're entitled to each year. It did for Stan Donogh.

"I thought it was free and I wanted to see what my credit report was," said Donogh.

His credit report was free, but to get it he had to enter his credit card number. Months later he noticed charges on his bills.

"I thought, 'What the heck is this?'" said Donogh. "I was frustrated and I didn't know where to turn."

Those charges were for a credit monitoring service Donogh had to sign up for to get that so-called "free credit report." He didn't realize he had to opt-out of the credit monitoring offer.

The Federal Trade Commission warns against other Web sites that offer credit reports. There are many of them, but this is what's important. There's only one authorized under federal law: annualcreditreport.com.

While Donogh tried to fight those credit monitoring charges, he went to the attorney general's office. But the best they could do was get him out of the service. Now he just wants you to make sure you're not misled by their jingle.

"Don't give them your Mastercard, don't give them your Visa card. Just get it where it's free and that's annualcreditreport.com," said Donogh.