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Kiplinger's Personal Finance
|February 2025
Credit-monitoring services can help you detect fraud quickly.
IF you've been the victim of a data breach and there's a good chance you have you've probably been offered free monitoring of your credit reports.
Credit-monitoring services scan your files from the three credit-reporting companies-Equifax, Experian and TransUnion notify you of activity that could signal you're the victim of fraud, such as a new account opened in your name. If you act quickly, you may be able to close the account before the fraudster has a chance to use it.
Free options.
It's not unusual for businesses that have suffered a data breach to provide free credit monitoring to those whose personal information was exposed. If you're offered a free service, it's usually a good idea to accept it.
This story is from the February 2025 edition of Kiplinger's Personal Finance.
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