 TITLE: How Can I Get Free Credit Monitoring? CONTENT: Credit Monitoring Helps You Help Yourself\n-----------------------------------------\nCredit monitoring can make you aware of issues with your credit files, but it's still important for you to protect yourself. An alert about unauthorized credit activity, for example, will give you the heads-up to notify the lender in question that your personal information has been stolen or misused. You may also need to file disputes with the credit bureaus to get fraudulent information removed as quickly as possible.\nSimilarly, if you learn that your personal information (especially your Social Security number) has been stolen or exposed in a data breach, you might be wise to add a fraud alert to your credit files or to apply a credit lock.\nOnce you sign up for the service, it's important to remember that credit monitoring is effective at helping you detect unauthorized credit activity in your name, but it won't alert you to fraud that doesn't impact your credit report. In addition to credit monitoring, you should do the following to maintain your credit security:\n*   Guard your passwords and personal data from phishing scams.\n*   Respond to notifications of data breaches that might expose your personal information by changing passwords and card numbers as appropriate.\n*   Monitor your bank accounts for unexpected or unauthorized transactions.\n*   Take action as appropriate to improve your credit score or maintain an excellent credit score. END