March 5, 2009
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Wilderness to Free Credit Report, Pt.2
Security: 1st level.Starting over again I continue the quest for my credit card report:
3) Choose "Start Here": Perplexed as I was, I backed up to the initial ‘free credit card report' screen. The upper-left quadrant of the original screen (in bold print) suggested I start there (instead of choosing the TransUnion icon). The only ‘get object' was a state dropdown list to pick from: "Select Your State".
4) "Request Report": I selected my home state and pressed the ‘Request Report' button.
5) Identity Form: In the next screen an identity form was presented. Provisions for with-holding full SSN display, 2-year residency minimums were also covered here.
6) Decode security graphic: Credit card report security, apparently is tight. In order to submit this form, it was necessary to decode a picture graphic at the bottom left of the form. The graphic contained random characters and numbers which could not be compromised easily (different selection each time). It was necessary to type the correct string into the qualifying entry box before submitting the form.
7) Picky-picky: My submissions were rejected twice and I had to completely re-fill out the form each time, including a new ‘security graphic'. It turned out that the form did not allow for abbreviations for the ‘City'. "St. Pete" didn't work and neither did "St. Petersburg". It had to be "Saint Petersburg". Finally, the form went through.
8) Choose Bureau: The next page gives you the choice(s) of which bureaus to get free credit card reports from: TransUnion, Experian or Equifax. You can actually choose multiples here or, even, get all three at once. Since each person is only allowed one freebee from each bureau within a 12-month period, it's a good strategy to space each of them three four months apart. That way you can get continual freebees every four months forever. Coffee break time. At this juncture, I was ready for a coffee break. See ya in 5.