 TITLE: Does Credit Card Fraud Affect Your Credit? CONTENT: What Can You Do to Protect Yourself?\n------------------------------------\nThere are also several ways you can protect yourself from credit card fraud, and get notified so you can quickly act if there's unusual activity in your account.\n*   **Set up email, text or app notifications** for credit card transactions. You may be able to customize the notifications based on transaction amounts or whether a transaction occurred when the card wasn't present.\n*   **Use contactless payment** when available and check card terminals for skimming devices.\n*   **Track all your accounts** using budgeting software or Experian's Personal Finances tool, which lets you securely connect and sync financial accounts. You can then easily track account activity, which can be especially helpful for monitoring cards you don't frequently use.\n*   **Sign up for an identity monitoring service,** such as Experian IdentityWorksSM, which can alert you if your personal information appears online, including on the dark web. It also comes with identity theft insurance, which can help pay for various expenses resulting from identity theft, including out-of-pocket costs, lost wages and legal fees.\n*   **Add a fraud alert to your credit reports.** This lets lenders know that they should take extra steps to verify your identity before opening a new account in your name.\n*   **You could also add a credit lock or freeze** to your credit file, which are more serious measures and typically are most useful if you've repeatedly been a victim of identity theft. If you do so, you'll also need to take an extra step to unlock or thaw your report before applying for credit.\nMonitor Your Credit for Unexpected Changes\n------------------------------------------\nWhile you can take precautions to help prevent credit card fraud, some situations might be outside your control. Free credit monitoring from Experian comes with automatic notifications about new inquiries, accounts or updated personal information, all of which may indicate someone is trying to use (or already used) your information to open an account. You can also use your Experian account to submit disputes online, and learn what steps you can take to improve your credit in general. END