I've known this for a long time, but I was surprised to see that The New York Times would bother doing a story on it: The High Cost of a 'Free Credit Report':

Mr. Steele, 27, remembered a number of commercials for FreeCreditReport.com featuring a young Slacker singing about various life problems - living in the in-laws' basement, dressing as a pirate to wait on tables in a seafood restaurant - all because he had neglected to check his credit score. The ads were lighthearted and catchy, with lyrics like: "F-R-E-E, that spells free creditreport.com, baby. Saw their ads on my TV, thought about going but was too lazy."

So Mr. Steele headed to the site and filled out the information form, including his credit-card number, which he thought the site needed to verify his identity.

But a couple of months later, Mr. Steele noticed the site had been charging his credit card. While he believed he had signed up for a free report, he had actually enrolled in a credit-monitoring service that cost $14.95 a month. He says he never expected that it would cost anything.

"It's called FreeCreditReport.com," he said. "It's kind of easy to make that assumption. I didn't see anything in the process of signing up that said, 'Hey, if you don't cancel in 30 days or whatever, you're going to get charged.' "

Actually, FreeCreditReport.com does say on its home page that you will get a free credit report but will also be signed up for a product you have to pay for (they just put that message in subdued colors so you won't read it):

IMPORTANT INFORMATION

When you order your free report here, you will begin your free trial membership in Triple AdvantageSM Credit Monitoring. If you don't cancel your membership within the 7-day trial period**, you will be billed $14.95 for each month that you continue your membership.

ConsumerInfo.com, Inc. and Freecreditreport.com are not affiliated with the annual free credit report program. Under a new Federal law, you have the right to receive a free copy of your credit report once every 12 months from each of the three nationwide consumer reporting companies. To request your free annual report under that law, you must go to www.annualcreditreport.com.

While I agree it's a little scuzzy, I'm surprised that anyone just assumes they'll get something for nothing without reading any of the fine print. Advertising and marketing is notorious for offering something "free" as long as you buy something else (or at least listen to a sales pitch). How many times have you seen this:

FREE CD Player/AM-FM Radio!*

blah, blah, blah

*with purchase of complete set of tires

We've seen it so many times many of us no longer trust ANYTHING that's free. If someone comes up to you on the street holding out a $10 bill you would automatically shy away, certain that anyone willing to give you money has a plan to get even more of your money in return.

Anyway, be careful out there.