You received an email that appears to come from a legitimate business offering to supply a free credit report to help you monitor and prevent identity theft. Don’t be fooled.

The email could very well be one of many scam emails circulating over the last two years. The recipient is directed to a site to fill out an application form.

The application form contains all the basic information you might expect to provide in order to request a credit report. The problem is that these sites are run by scammers.

The scammers now have everything they want. Instead of protecting yourself against identity theft you have just provided the scammers with all the information they need to make you a victim of it. They can now open accounts, get credit cards in your name and ruin your credit.

Everyone is entitled to one free credit report per year. According to the FTC, the only website authorized for this purpose is www.annualcreditreport.com.