Q: I was trying to get my free credit report so I went to freecreditreport.com on the Internet. I put in my information, never received my free credit report, but did get charged $12.95. That's not supposed to be the way it works, is it?

JAMES HARRISON

McCandless

A: Now, James, what makes you think you could get a free credit report on a site called freecreditreport.com? That would be too simple.

The proper site for your free credit report is annualcreditreport.com.

Freecreditreport.com belongs to Experian, one of the three major credit reporting companies. If you read the fine print in light blue on medium blue, you'll see that it is not associated with the free credit reports each consumer is entitled to by law.

I am not a big fan of membership clubs that offer you a free anything and then if you don't cancel within 30 days, you pay. That's what this site offers.

To be fair, Experian says it's had this site since 1996 so you can't say it is trying to capitalize on the new law. Experian's Heather Greer says that it has given away 14 million free credit reports, but if you don't remember to cancel, you are charged $12.95. Ms. Greer says you get a credit report and a credit score.

She says Experian has a very liberal refund policy. Even if you call after 30 days, you get your refund, and yes, James Harrison did get his refund. No, he didn't get his free credit report.

Q: I received a letter from U.S. Claims Services telling me that if I send them $49.45, they will tell me how I can recover $511.92 which is being held for me by a government agency. The thing is, last year, I saw our name in the [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette] as having unclaimed money, got online and filled in the claim form, sent it in and received the $511.92 a month ago. This was a very well done mailing. I wonder how many other people will receive this [letter] and send money. Is this illegal, or just underhanded?

BETTY ARSCOTT

Cranberry

A: It's one of those services that companies sell to people who don't know where to find it for free.

First things first, if you get a letter promising you information about your own money for a fee, don't pay. Call the Pennsylvania Unclaimed Property Bureau at 1-800-222-2046. Chances are you'll find your money waiting for you there. If not, call again in a few months.

What is U.S. Claims Services and companies like it? They are called "finders." They go through the names of people who have money coming to them and send letters promising to tell you where your money is waiting for a fee. By law, these companies can't charge you more than 15 percent of the amount of money waiting for you. The problem is you shouldn't have to pay a dime to get back your own money.

By law, any check that remains uncashed or any bank account that is ignored eventually gets sent to the Unclaimed Property department where it waits to be claimed. Each state has a similar set-up.

Lots of people are getting letters like this in Pennsylvania because the state published the names of about 400,000 people who had money coming from insurance companies who had demutualized, resulting in payouts galore.

Judging from my phone calls, all 400,000 of you saw your name, filed a claim and most of you haven't received your money yet.

The good news is that spokesperson Nicki Gorini says the bureau has completed all of the December claims that were properly submitted.

The bad news is, December? Good grief. It's been almost a year.

Advice here is if you filed in December and haven't received your money, call the Unclaimed Property Bureau. If you filed after that, don't waste your time. Be patient. Ms. Gorini says the backlog is growing shorter and by the beginning of next year, it may be back to business as usual. That means you will wait from six to eight weeks for your money.

The Web site is www.patreasury.org.