One thing I love is a good bargain or sale or whatever you want to call it, but one thing I love more than that is FREE. Now sometimes free comes with some stipulations which may not make the free worth the time but in some rare occurrences the free is all the way worth it. One of those all the way worth it free things is Credit Karma. It’s secure [as secure as anything can be these days], has useful information, an app, and it’s FREE FREE FREE FREE FREE!!
I know most people who have Credit Karma use the company for the free credit score, which is cool but I’m here to tell you why I don’t use it for the credit score. What to know about the free “credit score” you are getting?
- The score you are getting is not your actual FICO8 score which most lenders use to verify your creditworthiness, you’re getting a FAKO.
- You are getting your VantageScore 3.0 from TransUnion and Equifax.
The VantageScore 3.0 score can be high, low, close or even dead on
- Use the score as a gauge to give you a relative idea but don’t trust it as your actual credit score
Here is the thing. The VantageScore 3.0 is not technically a fake score, lenders can choose to use whichever credit score they like. VantageScore 3.0 is not the only FAKO out there, there is a plethora. Lenders just choose the FICO8 because it’s the most known thus making it more consistent.
Now here is what you SHOULD be using Credit Karma to do for you. Credit Karma provides you with a pretty accurate credit report to be a third or fourth party receiving the information [Lifelock and LegalShield are third parties as well] and they provide you with credit updates. You are basically getting credit monitoring for free. The only difference in a Lifelock/LegalShield type of credit monitoring is that they provide Identity Theft RESTORATION, three credit bureau reports/alerts and it cost $10-$30 a month if not more. If you want to pay for it be my guest but let’s say that is $30 a month, that is $360/year.
I can teach you how to fix an Identity Theft crisis for free by yourself. It is easier than the media makes it seem.
THINGS YOU MUST KNOW:
- You cannot prevent Identity Theft
- It’s all about knowing what to do if you have Identity Theft
- Minimize your risk
If you don’t already have Credit Karma but you want to protect your identity, go download the app it’s free on both iTunes and Google Play Store.
Remember… The Credit Karma credit score is not an actual score, it can be high, low, or occasionally even dead on