Identity thieves are zeroing in on a new target demographic for identity theft scams: children.
In 2005, over 5% of the identity theft complaints received by the Federal Trade Commission involved parties 18 years of age or younger. This type of crime is expected to trend upwards for several reasons:
*First, it is easy to perpetrate. All an identity thief needs to establish credit is the child’s Social Security Number. Since the child has no credit history (it is only established when an individual applies for credit – not upon birth or acquisition of a Social Security Number), the thief can use this one piece of information to set up bank and credit accounts, obtain a driver’s license, set up
utilities and more.
*Second, it typically takes many years for the theft to be exposed. Discovery often occurs when the child is old enough to apply for a job or obtain a school loan and he is denied because of poor credit or even an arrest record. By this time the thief could have been using the child’s information for over 10 years, leaving a wake of bad credit for the parents and child to clean up.
*Third, family members – in some cases even parents – are the ones committing the crime. According to the Federal Trade Commission, a family member was identified as the perpetrator in an estimated 9% of identity theft cases. That translates to one out of every 11 cases! What causes a family member to do such a thing? Whatever the reason – greed, drugs, divorce, money trouble, or something else – this type of theft is on the rise.
Don’t let your child’s financial future become at risk. Follow these tips to ensure the safety of your child’s identity:
- Don’t give out your child’s social security number unless it is absolutely necessary – even to family members. There are no federal laws that forbid a vendor or organization from asking for a Social Security Number – but that doesn’t mean you have to provide it.
- Don’t carry your child’s (or your own!) Social Security card in your wallet. These documents are best kept in a lock box or, better yet, a safety deposit box. In fact, you shouldn't store SSN cards at home in an unlocked drawer, either. Family members or acquaintances can easily obtain SSN information from an unlocked file drawer.
- Get a copy of your child’s credit history any time you request your own report. It should come up empty as a credit history will only be initiated if a credit application is submitted in the person’s name.
- Shred any documents that contain personal identifying information on them before throwing in the trash to avoid becoming a victim of “dumpster divers†– or thieves who steal from your trash or mailbox.
- If your child is old enough to use the Internet, make sure she understands not to give out any personal information. Apply Internet safeguards – such as blocking software – to your computer to keep her out of inappropriate websites.
