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Free Credit Score from WSJ article
06-08-2009, 02:06 PM
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#1
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Moderator
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Charleston, SC
Posts: 4,573
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Today's WSJ has a piece from Shelly Banjo that includes a link to a site that offers free credit scores for those willing to sign up.
The Best Online Tools for Personal Finance - WSJ.com
The website is called creditkarma.com and I checked it out. Interesting and accurate for my score (at least from the last time I checked). I check my credit report several times a year, but don't pay for the score feature.
__________________
"Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference." - Mark Twain
DINKS, 38 and 46, plan for his ER at 50, mine few yrs later.
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06-08-2009, 03:35 PM
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#2
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 4,404
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Yeah I just did it. Pretty much right on. Thanks for the link!
__________________
If your gonna be dumb you gotta be tough
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06-08-2009, 04:09 PM
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#3
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: 43N Latitude, NY
Posts: 4,637
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from the article...
You don’t have to give the site your credit-card information, as you do with a traditional credit bureau. But CreditKarma, from San Francisco-based Credit Karma Inc., will ask you for your address, phone number and Social Security number. (The site says it doesn’t store the number.)
Um...um...please be careful, folks.
My phishing siren just went off. 
I tend to be ultra careful with stuff like this.
__________________
Freebird
"Happiness depends upon ourselves." - Aristotle
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06-08-2009, 04:32 PM
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#4
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Moderator
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Texas Hill Country
Posts: 7,254
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 Quote:
Originally Posted by freebird5825
Um...um...please be careful, folks.
My phishing siren just went off.
I tend to be ultra careful with stuff like this. |
Your caution is noted and very wise, but this one is legitimate. It's been featured in several prominent financial publications and partners with TransUnion, which is one of the three major credit bureaus.
Having said that, yes -- people should be extremely cautious about this sort of thing until they've done all the due diligence required to convince them of its legitimacy. And I'm pretty sure the Wall Street Journal, of all places, isn't going to be printing an article promoting a service that's a scam and a hideout for "identity thieves."
__________________
"Hey, for every ten dollars, that's another hour that I have to be in the work place. That's an hour of my life. And my life is a very finite thing. I have only 'x' number of hours left before I'm dead. So how do I want to use these hours of my life? Do I want to use them just spending it on more crap and more stuff, or do I want to start getting a handle on it and using my life more intelligently?" -- Joe Dominguez (1938 - 1997)
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06-08-2009, 04:53 PM
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#5
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: 43N Latitude, NY
Posts: 4,637
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ziggy29
Your caution is noted and very wise, but this one is legitimate. It's been featured in several prominent financial publications and partners with TransUnion, which is one of the three major credit bureaus.
Having said that, yes -- people should be extremely cautious about this sort of thing until they've done all the due diligence required to convince them of its legitimacy. And I'm pretty sure the Wall Street Journal, of all places, isn't going to be printing an article promoting a service that's a scam and a hideout for "identity thieves."
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Good deal.  Now I know this is a green light.
I did go to the web site, and looked under partners. I didn't see any listed, which surprised me.
WSJ is very reputable, agreed.
__________________
Freebird
"Happiness depends upon ourselves." - Aristotle
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07-03-2009, 08:19 AM
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#7
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Sep 2006
Posts: 489
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ziggy29
Your caution is noted and very wise, but this one is legitimate. It's been featured in several prominent financial publications and partners with TransUnion, which is one of the three major credit bureaus.
Having said that, yes -- people should be extremely cautious about this sort of thing until they've done all the due diligence required to convince them of its legitimacy. And I'm pretty sure the Wall Street Journal, of all places, isn't going to be printing an article promoting a service that's a scam and a hideout for "identity thieves."
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I'll bet you the WSJ had article about how wonderful the Madoff hedge fund
is a while back.
TJ
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06-08-2009, 08:14 PM
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#8
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Moderator
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Charleston, SC
Posts: 4,573
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Quote:
Originally Posted by freebird5825
from the article...
You don’t have to give the site your credit-card information, as you do with a traditional credit bureau. But CreditKarma, from San Francisco-based Credit Karma Inc., will ask you for your address, phone number and Social Security number. (The site says it doesn’t store the number.)
Um...um...please be careful, folks.
My phishing siren just went off.
I tend to be ultra careful with stuff like this. |
Sorry about that--shouldn't have abbreviated Wall Street Journal to WSJ. That is how we refer to it around the office. My bad.
My score was 790, no mortgage. No need to build it up, but the competitive streak in me sometimes wants to, just for the heck of it. 
__________________
"Never argue with a fool, onlookers may not be able to tell the difference." - Mark Twain
DINKS, 38 and 46, plan for his ER at 50, mine few yrs later.
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06-08-2009, 08:17 PM
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#9
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 3,085
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My score appears to be 70 points below where it was when we refinanced a few years ago. The simulator says I can gain that all back if I pay off my 0% credit card balances which is something I am in absolutely no hurry to do.
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06-09-2009, 06:15 AM
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#10
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: 43N Latitude, NY
Posts: 4,637
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Sarah in SC
Sorry about that--shouldn't have abbreviated Wall Street Journal to WSJ. That is how we refer to it around the office. My bad.
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No problem. I actually knew what WSJ was.
My former empl*yment has caused me to be very very careful about stuff like this. We were a favorite target for hackers and phishing and spam and... 
So when I saw "Free" and "Enter your SS number online" in the same sentence...ding ding ding. 
Onward and upward we go. 
__________________
Freebird
"Happiness depends upon ourselves." - Aristotle
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06-08-2009, 05:40 PM
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#11
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 136
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I ran my score this weekend through Amex offer (Experian), and my score was 790. Just now my score came through CreditKarma/Transunion as 786. Close enough for me.
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06-08-2009, 05:41 PM
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#12
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Moderator
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Texas Hill Country
Posts: 7,254
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Quote:
Originally Posted by target2019
I ran my score this weekend through Amex offer (Experian), and my score was 790. Just now my score came through CreditKarma/Transunion as 786. Close enough for me.
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Mine is somewhere in that same neighborhood and it seemed pretty close to me, too.
__________________
"Hey, for every ten dollars, that's another hour that I have to be in the work place. That's an hour of my life. And my life is a very finite thing. I have only 'x' number of hours left before I'm dead. So how do I want to use these hours of my life? Do I want to use them just spending it on more crap and more stuff, or do I want to start getting a handle on it and using my life more intelligently?" -- Joe Dominguez (1938 - 1997)
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06-08-2009, 05:50 PM
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#13
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Independence
Posts: 2,350
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Wadda pither! 770 and 762 here - we have 2 cards that get exercised, one that gets modest use, and one or two that don't get used at all. Pay in full each month, rare to use 1/8 of our available credit. Haven't done any credit checks or acquired any new cards this year at least. Wonder if our score is impacted by reducing our savings accounts to make loans? Would have thought our score would be very good, not just upper good. sigh.
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06-08-2009, 06:35 PM
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#14
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 136
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Quote:
Originally Posted by calmloki
Wadda pither! 770 and 762 here - we have 2 cards that get exercised, one that gets modest use, and one or two that don't get used at all. Pay in full each month, rare to use 1/8 of our available credit. Haven't done any credit checks or acquired any new cards this year at least. Wonder if our score is impacted by reducing our savings accounts to make loans? Would have thought our score would be very good, not just upper good. sigh.
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I played with the Credit Score Simulator, to see what makes it go up or down. Makes no sense, or maybe the simulator is broken.
When you look at the financial markets, which are broken, then it makes sense.
My score is probably 790 due to mortgage paid off, same with cars. We have no long term debt either.
For laughs I changed one variable to declare bankruptcy. My score only went to 704.
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06-08-2009, 07:03 PM
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#15
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Moderator
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Texas Hill Country
Posts: 7,254
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Yeah -- I learned not long ago that having no mortgage hurts the score. It's high enough that I'm not concerned, but it's pretty funny. I could pick up 10-20 points with a mortgage that wasn't delinquent. Whatever.
__________________
"Hey, for every ten dollars, that's another hour that I have to be in the work place. That's an hour of my life. And my life is a very finite thing. I have only 'x' number of hours left before I'm dead. So how do I want to use these hours of my life? Do I want to use them just spending it on more crap and more stuff, or do I want to start getting a handle on it and using my life more intelligently?" -- Joe Dominguez (1938 - 1997)
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06-08-2009, 07:46 PM
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#16
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Dryer sheet wannabe
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 16
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They can't provide a credit score if you have a credit freeze in place, so I'm out of luck. We use the 'nuclear option' of freezing to prevent identity theft. Since we rarely ever apply for credit, it works for us, but has the downside of not being able to take a peek at our credit score.
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06-09-2009, 07:11 AM
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#17
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Houston
Posts: 291
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hershey102
They can't provide a credit score if you have a credit freeze in place, so I'm out of luck. We use the 'nuclear option' of freezing to prevent identity theft. Since we rarely ever apply for credit, it works for us, but has the downside of not being able to take a peek at our credit score.
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Hershey--how do you initiate a credit freeze? I'm very interested in this, as it seems the perfect solution to identity theft. Currently I have a "fraud alert" on my credit because some dumbass at the medical clinic lost a laptop with a few thousand patient records on it.  Anyhow, I'd appreciate any info.
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06-09-2009, 02:51 PM
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#18
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2008
Location: 43N Latitude, NY
Posts: 4,637
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Quote:
Originally Posted by SarahW
Hershey--how do you initiate a credit freeze? I'm very interested in this, as it seems the perfect solution to identity theft. Currently I have a "fraud alert" on my credit because some dumbass at the medical clinic lost a laptop with a few thousand patient records on it. Anyhow, I'd appreciate any info. |
If I may...credit freeze info is halfway down at this page
DEFEND: Recover From Identity Theft - Deter. Detect. Defend. Avoid ID Theft
__________________
Freebird
"Happiness depends upon ourselves." - Aristotle
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06-14-2009, 02:40 PM
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#19
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: New York
Posts: 743
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Hershey102
They can't provide a credit score if you have a credit freeze in place, so I'm out of luck. We use the 'nuclear option' of freezing to prevent identity theft. Since we rarely ever apply for credit, it works for us, but has the downside of not being able to take a peek at our credit score.
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Just curious - how'd you do the freeze? Using one of those services or did you write the individual credit reporting firms? If the former, which service did you use? If the latter, how does one go about that and do you need to 'refresh' it often?
__________________
Money's just something you need in case you don't die tomorrow.
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06-08-2009, 08:28 PM
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#20
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Feb 2006
Posts: 1,143
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Down to a paltry 780. I knew I should have returned the overdue library books!
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