safest and most legit way to find out my credit score?

[Rising Phoenix]

[Tobin S.]

1. I think you can just pay one of the credit reporting companies

If not, you could apply for a loan and then ask them what your score was after they run your credit.

Here you go. Check this out ----> https://www.annualcreditreport.com/cra/index.jsp

[Rising Phoenix]

2. thanks

[MajorChode]

3. The free annual credit report doesn't give the credit score

For that you have to pay one of the three credit reporting companies. The fee is not that high, but it's different between the three if IIRC so it's worth it to shop around.

As you said you can also apply for a loan or if you know someone in the credit business they can look it up.

[Shagbark Hickory]

4. Freecreditreport IS A SCAM

The real thing can be had from the 3 credit reporting agencies... for a price.
You can get your free credit report annually from each through a site called annualcreditreport. com

I suggest getting 1 or 2 now and then the other 1 or 2 in 6 months that way you spread out and can keep an eye on things over the year for free.

The freecredit report site was on the news (msnbc) not long ago for being a scam, charging people recurring charges after signup. It's probably a datamining firm as well.
Oddly they continue to advertise on MSNBC. I guess there's no such thing as bad press.

Something needs to be done about this system! It's too easy to get your identity stolen and the 3 credit reporting agencies hold your financial life for ransom. Unbridled capitalism at it's finest.

[MajorChode]

5. I agree

However, just to clarify, I wasn't referring to freecreditreport.com, I was referring to the free gov mandated report available through annualcreditreport.com. You also have to be careful because when you go through the annualcreditreport.com site and try to get your credit score from the credit reporting agencies (for a fee) they will also try to sign you up for a credit monitoring service with recurring charges.

[Rising Phoenix]

6. thanks everyone

You are so right about freecreditreport.com. Catchy jingle, I went their first, hidden fees and sign up. I went through one of the three main ones, the credit report was free, and everything looked right. I then paid the 5.95 to get my credit score, its better to know after all. It was a surprisingly good score, considering some poor choices when I was younger. But it seems I have done a decent job in rebuilding my credit. And have taken steps this morning to improve it more. For instance having a bit more credit at my disposal. Thanks for the advice!

[RebelOne]

7. From Clark Howard's site. Credit scores for free

Jan 29, 2009 -- Credit scores available for free
Credit scores used to be a tightly controlled secret. That guardedness allowed some lenders to take advantage of African Americans especially with higher rates of interest when they would go for loans. But the new democratization of credit scores means shame on you if you don't know what's going on with your credit and your credit score.

Clark suggests using Quizzle.com, CreditKarma.com or Credit.com to get your free credit score. (Editor's note: The scores offered by these 3 services are not the official FICO score, but rather an approximation of it.)

Interestingly, Clark can no longer get his free credit score. Why? It's an unintended consequence of his beloved credit freeze!

And, remember, the only place to get your free credit report once a year is AnnualCreditReport.com. Accept no imitations!

http://clarkhoward.com/liveweb/shownotes/2009/01/29/15022/