Yes that's right adults are not the only ones that get their identities stolen. To be on the safe side your child's daily morning check-ups should now sound like this: lunch-check!, dressed warmly-check!, tied shoe laces-check!, clean Credit Report.....check!
Have you ever checked your child's credit report? No. Well you better get to it. Research done by the Federal Trade Commission proved that Child ID theft is the fastest growing crime in the scope of ID theft. It's possible that as many as 400,000 children are already victims of ID theft.
In most cases it was found that child identity theft is a crime usually committed by a member of the family, be it the money hungry aunt or the irresponsible father. Child identity theft is a simpler option for identity thieves because it goes unnoticed for longer periods of time, usually the crime is only realized by the time the child has to apply to a college or university or even open the first bank account. So the younger the better, new born babies are the best option. Another advantage in targeting children is that they have clean credit reports enabling ID thieves to take out huge loans in the child's name, and as a result ruining the child's credit history.
When issuing credit to a child ID thief don't the credit issuers notice the age difference? Sadly, they do not, application information is usually taken at face value, especially with regards to telephone and Internet applications. You will find that when face to face not many credit issuers request any form of proof of identity, and if they do, it still makes no difference because most clerks have not been trained to identify counterfeited or altered licenses. Similarly with credit facilities such as Equifax, TransUnion and Experian, sharing information about the age of a person is not common. The age on the applicant's first credit application (whether it is the correct age or not) is the age that the credit agencies store until a dispute is brought up and proven to be true.
Here are a few tips on how to avoid child ID theft:
- Leave your child's social security number and other sensitive information in a safe place at home.
- Teach your children about password security. They must not use obvious passwords like their names and surnames.
- Be careful who you give your child's sensitive information to, only give out such information if it is absolutely necessary.
- Teach your children not to share private information such as passwords, social security numbers, bank account details, etc.
- Keep record of your child's credit report by making use of the free credit reports issued by the major credit agencies every 12months.
- Keep an eye on your post for pre-approval credit offers in your child's name. If you do not want to use it, tear up the mail before throwing it into the bin.
- Some credit agencies have staff trained for cases such as child identity theft. By working directly with them, credit bureaus can suppress you child credit file to indicate that it belongs to a minor.
In situations where your child has already become a victim of ID theft and his/her credit history has been totally destroyed, you have the option of getting your child's social security number changed.
If your child is not yet 18 years of age he/she will lose nothing by changing his/her Social Security Number as long as the original offender does not have any access to the new number.
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