The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) recently issued a warning about deceptive websites that claim to offer free credit reports. These sites actually end up charging their customers for credit monitoring subscriptions, and they don’t even offer anything you can’t already get for free.

As the FTC says, “Despite the musical claims of some TV commercials, the only authorized source to get your free annual credit report under federal law is AnnualCreditReport.com.”

Federal law requires each of the big three credit bureaus to give you a free credit report every year. That means you can get three credit reports annually, all without paying a dime.

Many financial advisers recommend that you check your credit report once a year to make sure that the information is correct and to protect your identify.  Because you have three free reports, however, you can check your credit report every four months and have peace of mind year-round.

Here’s a video from the FTC explaining the difference between AnnualCreditReport.com and all the imitators. The difference? Their service is actually free.  “FreeCreditReport.com’s” annoying jinglers are hoping you forget to cancel your “free” account so they can hit you with the associated fees.  Those commercials don’t come free you know.