E-mails trying to get you to check your credit report due to "problems" is probably a scam

I have heard people complain about getting unsolicited e-mails from Equifax telling them there are problems with their credit report and advising them to buy their credit report.  This is either a scam by some perp trying to obtain your personal information or a ploy by Equifax to get you to sign up for a credit monitoring service you likely don't need.  Either way, its something to avoid.

If you want to check your credit report, try http://www.annualcreditreport.com/, which is the website that federal law required the credit bureaus to establish to provide one free credit report per credit bureau to each consumer per year.  Better yet, print out and mail in the pdf request form found at http://www.annualcreditreport.com/ and get your credit reports for free without any arbitration clause taking away your right to a jury trial.  You see, http://www.annualcreditreport.com/ redirects consumers to the websites of Experian, Equifax and Trans Union to complete the process of obtaining the free credit reports.  One or more of the bureaus' websites require the consumer to agree to an arbitration clause to access the credit report.  Sending in the pdf form, though, does not activate any such arbitration clause.