Congress amended the Fair Credit Reporting Act in 2003 to require the three nationwide consumer reporting companies (Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion) to provide consumers with a free copy of their credit reports annually and on request.

As the Federal Trade Commission explains, there is "only one online source authorized" to provide the report, www.annualcreditreport.com. The agency cautions consumers to "beware of other sites that may look and sound similar."

Other sites offering the report may require "the purchase of other products or services" as a condition to receiving the report.

Products and services may be offered at the authorized site, too, but the products or services cannot be required.

Since it is possible to misspell the URL and be misdirected to other online sites, it's a good idea to do the following if you want to make sure that you reach the FTC-authorized site:

* First, go to the FTC site at www.ftc.gov.

* Once at ftc.gov, enter "Free Annual Credit Reports" in the FTC's search engine box (located at the top right of the homepage).

* Read "The Federal Trade Commission's Information on Free Annual Credit Reports" publication, which should pop up when you click "Search."

* When you read that publication you will see the www.annualcreditreport.com link in the publication.

* Click that link within the FTC Web site to ensure you will not be misdirected to other Web sites that offer supposedly free reports, but only with the purchase of other products.

Opinions expressed solely are those of the writer. Joseph Pellicciotti is a lawyer, professor and associate vice chancellor at Indiana University Northwest.