The Ultimate Tools to Monitor and Improve Your Credit Score

Recently, I was trying to open an account through Credit Karma in my search to replace my Mint app, when I was told my Social Security number was already attached to another account.

Surprised, I looked closely at the information connected to this account. Everything was accurate to me -- my name, my birthday, the last four digits of my social -- except for one bizarre, frightening detail: The email wasn't mine. Rather it was my dad's work email from a company he left over a decade ago. As I suspected, my dad hadn't heard of Credit Karma before and wouldn't have opened an account in my name regardless. It appears someone had taken my information and opened the account without my knowledge.

We're still investigating how this account came about -- my credit report checks out with no new credit cards I don't recognize -- but it got me thinking: Just how vulnerable am I to fraud? It's easy to think you're safe, but I suppose it's the unsuspecting whom fraudsters love to prey on.

So I've been looking at some tools to help me monitor my credit and prevent fraud. Plenty of credit monitoring services exist, but here are three free ones that are indispensable.

CreditWise

CreditWise is a free credit monitoring tool by Capital One. The tool lets you monitor your VantageScore 3.0 credit score, which is an alternative scoring model to your FICO® Score, as well as gives you weekly updates on the health of your credit.

What I like is that it scans the dark web -- a patchwork of evasive websites that you can reach only through special software -- and alerts you when your information has been compromised or for sale on a black market. CreditWise scans the dark web daily and will send alerts to your email if it finds your information there.

>> Click here to sign up now for CreditWise. <<

CreditWise can also help you build your credit score. The app gives you a summary with tips on how to increase your score. For instance, CreditWise tells me I could improve my score by adding different accounts, like a mortgage or personal loan, which I currently don't have. It also has a neat score simulator in which you can try out different scenarios, like increasing your credit limits or buying something with your available credit, to see how it will affect your score.

You don't need a Capital One account to sign up, but if you have a credit card or bank account through the company, you'll find CreditWise in your app. If you don't bank with Capital One, you can download the CreditWise app and create an account separately.

>> Click here to sign up now for CreditWise. <<

Experian

Experian is one of the three major credit bureaus, but it also has a free credit monitoring service. The service lets you access your Experian credit score and alerts you if Experian sees something fishy. A basic account is free, but if you want extra protection -- like identity theft monitoring -- you'll pay a monthly subscription.

It's worth noting that each of the three major credit bureaus -- Experian, TransUnion, and Equifax -- has its own credit monitoring service. If you don't want the company to monitor your credit, however, you can also get one free credit report weekly from all three bureaus through AnnualCreditReport.com.

Credit Karma

Finally, the very app that started this search is actually one of the best for tracking your credit score. Credit Karma works with TransUnion and Equifax to give you access to a free credit score. It can also alert you if your personal information is involved in a data breach. To be fair, this isn't anything special -- Apple's "Security Recommendations" on my phone does pretty much the same thing -- but it's still a neat feature for a free app.

One thing I don't like about Credit Karma is that it uses your personal information to hit you with ads for financial products. While this isn't unusual, it does distract from the app and makes the experience somewhat clunky.

All in all, free credit monitoring services can help you track your credit score and stay informed of information breaches. They can't prevent fraud, but they can help you catch fraudsters before they wreck your score. If you want more robust credit monitoring, you could look at paid services, but for the basics, these freebies can keep you well informed about your credit.