Impersonating My Ex-wife And Getting Her Credit Report?

Q: On a plethora of web pages, you can "click here for your free credit report". I've never done it, but what do these people get out of it? Ive never done it because I'm afraid someone is gathering a mailing list. What's to keep me from impersonating my ex-wife and getting her credit report?

A: Since a couple months ago, I noticed Capital One invitations stopped coming, I tried to get my credit reports for free from outfits associated with each of the major reporting bureaus. During my free trials, one of the affiliates was actually merged with its main, and that one was tricky to cancel, which I'd planned to do once I checked. I actually called a number to find out I was already cancelled as of a couple minutes ago. Hell, was I disappointed to find what I found. I found a fake address I'd used to sign up for.. I think a grocery store discount card. Either that or someone did steal my identity and lives on a St. in Brooklyn, but that rings a bell that I think I made it up myself. I found I have a zero balance on a card I had from a mall shop in 1994 and thought I'd closed that account by '95. Very little reporting, as in once or less per affiliate, on my defaulted school loan (now paid off), and only one reported a check into, by a would-be landlord as recently as 2002. Not a single item from major credit cards I'd had a while ago, and I have none now. 2 out of the 3 sent me a welcome email for signing up. One of those 2 sent me an email confirmation of my cancellation (that would have charged a heftier yearly fee, rather than a nominal monthly fee). I cancelled them all before the trial ran out (where I only wanted to see, they promised that it's really smart to be constantly notified of checks and additions, and I wasn't really impressed by the currency of what they already knew, but I went into it intending to cancel unless there was some really attractive reason not to). The only spams in the hotmail address I used are update notices from Hotmail. And I repeat, my card was never charged. I was disappointed with the services provided, but not with the process of signing up or cancelling. All of these I found by Google, though, no banner ads. So, nothing I didn't already know, no incorrect information except for the weird address I've never lived

at but may have invented, giant gaping vacancies of information, no more hassle than I expected, no charge, no spam. The major reporting bureaus are the way to go, and eventually, it will be free once yearly to check your own credit in the state where you live. It's free immediately if you believe there's been an error, but it looks like you have to wade through a lot more process to qualify. Apparently, in the meantime, business charge you for access and deliver nothing because it's really trendy to worry about identity theft, and people don't remember to cancel or really believe it's worth it, but there's nothing at all reassuring about what-all those operations know.