You are entitled to one free credit report every 12 months from each of the three credit agencies: Equifax, Experian, and TransUnion. Most people can go to www.annualcreditreport.com and order the reports online. If you have put a fraud alert on your accounts, however, you have to take a different route.

Each agency should send you a letter in the mail, notifying you of the fraud alert. These letters have a special number for each agency to order the free report. The TransUnion and Experian numbers cannot be found online. The Equifax number is the same but there is a catch. Here is how you can obtain your free reports when you have a fraud alert on your account:

Experian

1. Call 1-800-360-7540
2. Enter the number on the letter you received from Experian.
3. Follow the instructions.

Equifax

1. Call 1-800-685-1111
2. Press 3
3. Press 2
4. Enter Zip Code
5. Enter Numeric Portion of Address
6. Enter Social Security Number
7. Press 3
8. Press 3
9. Press 2 (This step is important. You must say that you have experienced a decrease in your credit limit, insurance or denied credit within the last 50 days. Otherwise you could be charged $10.)

The report should arrive in about four days.

Trans Union

1. Call 1-800-680-7289
2. Enter Zip Code
3. Press 1
4. Press 3
5. Enter Personal Information
6. Say “No” for credit score.
   

The report should arrive in about one week.

If you still have a problem, request your reports from each agency via mail. Send letters to:
Equifax
P.O. Box 740256
Atlanta, Georgia 30374

Experian
P.O. Box 9532
Allen, Texas 75013

TransUnion
P.O. Box 6790
Fullerton, CA 92834

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