Identity theft protection is changing: What to look for

Identity theft protection is shifting beyond simply monitoring your credit report. As fraud evolves, criminals increasingly use account takeovers, not just new-account scams—changing passwords, replacing recovery emails, adding new phone numbers, and making unauthorized purchases and transfers. They can also redirect your phone service, expose payment-card information, and stitch together details from multiple breaches to impersonate you in personalized texts, calls, or emails. The article says effective services should explain what happened, help you decide next steps, and provide recovery support. It also highlights tools like account alerts, stronger logins, credit freezes, and device/transfer protection.