our credit report is private financial information. But other people besides you can take a look under certain conditions. When you apply for credit or insurance, when you try to get a job, or when you want to rent a home, you are essentially giving others consent to review the information in your credit report. Businesses use that information to make their decisions. However, your employer or a prospective employer must have your permission in writing to review information about you.

In the process of repairing your credit, you should be on the lookout for credit repair fraud. You’ve probably heard plenty of advertisements about getting a free credit report. However, did you realize the there is only one website that is legally authorized to provide those free annual reports? The web address is http://www.annualcreditreport.com.  All of the other sites you see advertised will probably attach conditions to your free report.

Some credit repair fraud services start you with a free trial account that automatically converts to a subscription later on. The only way you can protect yourself after you have signed up is to cancel during the trial period. Otherwise, the company will begin charging you for their monitoring and reporting services.

Watch out for other credit repair frauds lurking in cyberspace. They make liberal use of the phrase “free report.” Sometimes they will create a website that is very similar to the official site, but might have the title slightly misspelled. Once you land on their page, they will try to funnel you into a purchase of their product or service.

Here is a hint for spotting the impostors. Neither the authorized site (http://www.annualcreditreport.com) nor national consumer reporting companies will request your personal information via email. Telephone calls, pop-up advertisements, emails and regular mail are all danger signals. Be on your guard and don’t click. Protect your personal information and protect yourself from credit repair fraud sites.