Credit Karma is one of our favorite free services for monitoring your own credit and keeping your identity safe. Now they're upping the ante and offering free credit reports every single week, so you're aware instantly if someone's stealing your identity.
Free credit report services are often rife with scams, but Credit Karma is the real deal (I'm a user of the service, I don't pay a cent for it, and I'm happy.) The company previously offered credit reports on a monthly basis, and refreshed your TransUnion credit score and VantageScore (along with your overall account data) every week. Now they've partnered with TransUnion to do a weekly soft inquiry on your full report (meaning it won't actually ding your credit.) You'll get an updated full report with activity and balances, alerts for new accounts or major changes, and contextual information to help you understand what the whole thing means.
The benefits, aside from keeping track of your financial health like a hawk, is that if anyone tr8ies to steal your identity, open an account in your name or take out a loan in your name, you'll see near-immediately, and hopefully well enough in advance to minimize the damage to your identity. If you're already a Credit Karma member, the new features should be in your account now. If not, you can sign up below.
Credit Karma | via Credit Karma Blog and TechCrunch