Is Your Child A Target For Identity Theft?
Identity theft is getting a lot of press these days but one of the fastest growing demographics of victims is hardly ever mentioned – children. Children are even more vulnerable because they receive a social security number but few families ever check their kids’ credit reports. They just assume there is nothing to monitor. Problems can show up years later, however, when the child is grown up and applies for a credit card or a car loan. The problems show up and the application is declined. And at this point, the work necessary to clear the credit fraud is difficult.
How Childrens’ Identities Are Stolen
Kids generally get issued social security numbers at a young age because their parents need it for health insurance or tax reasons. The government is busy making rules to keep adults protected from identity theft, but unfortunately their social security number is still one of the most commonly used identification methods for kids, at places such as doctors offices and schools.
Since most parents do not ever think of checking their kids’ credit reports problems due to fraud can go undetected for years. And to compound the issue, the websites that are set up to provide free credit reports won’t do so for children – you need to send a letter by mail requesting this information for your kids.
How Child Identity Theft Usually Plays Out
It’s usually several years before the problem appears, often not until the child has reached adulthood and starts applying for a loan or credit cards. And there are a couple of things that can make the problem even worse than the average identity theft. First, because these accounts were opened as new ones, and not existing ones that were taken over by fraudsters, it can be a lot more difficult to clear them from your record. Second, by the time these issues come to light the debts are long overdue and have been in collections for a number of years.
Protect Your Child From Identity Theft
The most effective way to protect your child is to check their credit reports on an annual basis. You should also stop giving out their social security number unless you absolutely have to. The IRS and sometimes your physician are the only ones that have the right to ask you for it. And don’t carry your kids’ social security cards with you – memorize the number instead and leave the cards in a safe place.
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