You see them all the time- ads everywhere telling you where to go to check your credit for “free”. Of course, you have to enter a credit card number, then you are charged later. To avoid this, and to also keep an eye on your score, you need to find out where to actually check your score for free. Read this post by Gretchen at Retired By 40 for more:
Credit Sesame
Credit Karma(I have personally used this one before twice- it’s absolutely free)
Wise Piggy